The Engineering Department both assists and protects the public by means of guidance and inspection to see that Township standards for site work are adhered to, thus ensuring the health, safety and welfare of the general public. The Department will intercede on behalf of the citizens when drainage, roadway or general site work conditions become a matter of public concern and routinely inspects all construction projects in the Township.

The goal of the Engineering review and inspection is to ensure that drainage problems are not created for the homeowner or his neighbors. Generally projects which disturb more than 5,000 sq. ft., add more than 50% to an existing structure, or projects which have significant regrading, such as driveways which are being curbed, will require professionally engineered plans.

The Engineering, Planning and Zoning Departments have collaborated with the Construction Department to create a "One-Stop Permit" process for the citizens of Hillsborough. The new process, complete with detailed instructions, flow charts and check lists has been developed to streamline the permit and inspection processes required by the departments.

The Township is currently pursuing consultant services to encode this permit process electronically. This will further streamline the process saving taxpayer time and money. Ultimately it is expected that the instructions and applications for zoning and engineering will be accessible from this website by the end of 2001.

Under this process, the initial contact remains with the Zoning Officer, who, based upon discussions with the applicant, will provide one of the following three application packages:

This process is intended to appraise the applicant of all the various requirements on day No. 1 and to keep their paperwork expeditiously moving through the departments. Of even greater importance is a detailed explanation of the various inspections that are or are not required and an accountability to the applicant. At any point throughout the permit and inspection process, an applicant will be able to call the Engineering Department and get an up-to-date status report.