Building permits

[Architorture]

Trim to size, pound to fit.

 

[justin1795]

at my old house I always tried to be good about permits. I got one for half my fence. I never told them it was completed for there inspection. 2 years later I got a dog and wanted to do more. I went and got a permit and there was never any record of my even getting the first one. I got a furnace installed and im pretty sure they never got a permit. I put a bathroom in and didn't get one. I watched my garbage as a buddy told me the garabge men are supposed to keep a eye out for things.

 

[Ajustable]

There's only one reason for a code official to require an engineer's stamp. That's to cover the inspector's ***. It's pretty rare to see a home built exactly as represented on a drawing. Changes are made all the time, for one reason or another. The permitting process is a cash cow for most municipalities. At least it was where I was employed. The problem with being an inspector is that you're always wrong, even when you're right. Every governing body that performs inspections also has a fine print disclaimer that states that they have zero liability if your project burns to the ground, collapses or is unlivable. They accept no responsibility for anything they inspect.

Buddy of mine bought a $1.5 million dollar brand spanking new home. It passed all inspections and was issued a certificate of occupancy. Family moves in and everyone's happy. First big rain, basement floods. Here comes a new whole house generator. Next big rain, basement floods again. Finished basement since new. Problem turned out to be grade at top of foundation. The foundation was poured 6 inches too low. Properties are built right on top of one another and no matter what you do to the finished grade, there is no fix. The top of foundation inspection was approved before they could start framing. Ending result was they threatened to sue the builder and took another of his new houses. Some other schmuck gets the flooding problem. The village just washed their hands of the whole thing.

yeah I ya Frankush, Its just frustrating the way authorities handle it. some governing body created the rules for the building code, Then it just seems it's not good enough.

I understand how a guy buying a new house that floods every rain storm would be supremely pissed. I'd be looking for a fix myself. In our little town a house was built with all proper permits on the side of a steep grade. All the neighbors thought it was a terrible place to build, but the permits were accepted. Then 20 years later after 3 new owners the house was shown to be sliding down the hill, the new owners sued the town and won. That kind of history helps me understand the worry towns have and what they have to deal with, it is understandable that the building inspectors don't want to be sued down the road. I think there must be a middle ground some where here. Were it is I don't know.

Thanks for your thoughts.... Ajustable

 

[frankush]

Another thing to think about and it's also posted in this thread, is that inspectors are not designers. The engineers and architects job is designing a project that meets your needs and the building codes as well. That stamp shows that the designer has approved and assumes liability for the plan. When I say that the inspector is covering his own ***, he's also protecting your best interest. At least the good ones are. The house that slid down the hill is interesting. Here, new construction plans require an IL licensed architect's stamp. He designed it and thus accepts liability for it's design. The courts determine if it was built to plan after it fails. A smart plan is to pay the extra fees for your architect to visit the building site occasionally. There are boatloads of crappy architects out there, so it's just another person to get references on. The cream of the crop new homes are usually built with a local architect and builder in whatever area you're in. All it takes is one bad subcontractor to screw it all up though. The foundation that's too short is an example. Let's say the issue was caught before framing began. If the concrete sub was at fault, he's responsible for ripping it out and starting over. Many can't afford the hit, so it winds up in court. In the meantime, construction comes to a halt. Food for thought.

 

[Moose97]

The International codes specifically list work that does not require a permit. The codes give a lot of room for the "authority having jurisdiction" to make calls on code interpretation. A lot of municipalities "amend" the codes in numerous ways. I can only speak for Texas but here homeowners who live in a declared "homestead" have a lot of rights to do almost all the work on their "homestead" themselves. Still required to pull a permit, still required to meet code standard but allowed to do the work. I've been a municipal inspector for almost 20 years now and in many different jurisdictions and I will assure you that most building departments do not charge enough money to cover staffing costs much less make a profit. A good rule of thumb is always try and cover the departments cost. Don't lose any money and don't make any money. Also, in 20 years and multiple municipalities (in Texas) I have never once seen a building department that reports anything to a tax assessor/collector. Never. Codes are a good thing. They are not the best way to do something. They are the equivalent to making a "D". You passed, but just barely. You would not believe the bad work I have seen in my life, from the laughable to the downright scary. You need a second set of eyes. I live outside a municipality in the county and permits are not required but there is never any work I do that I don't get a second, third or fourth set of eyes on. If in doubt at all of your abilities, please hire a pro.

 

[MFortie]

Done it both ways. When I was younger and didn't have the funds, I'd do as much as I could (sans permits); I would follow codes and accepted practices. I'm fortunate to have access to lots of professionals (EE, ME, HVAC, structural, etc) -- lot's of licensed folks in the family, and I research the requirements for whatever task is at hand (read span tables, code books, etc.)

However, I now own a house with some unpermitted work that I will most likely sell to my daughter and her husband at a significant discount -- partially 'cause she's my daughter and partially 'cause of the unpermitted work.

The last two houses we did (same parcel), I pulled every permit necessary and even did a lot of work NOT required (but had it inspected) so I wouldn't have the same dilemma in the future should I decide to sell. Even with our new steel building going up I'm struggling with permitting it as an 'ag' building or a shop -- really need to research the differences permit and fee-wise. A couple of people have 'suggested' scabbing in additional work once the building is signed off, but then I'm in the same boat as before...

Sometimes the County can make it pretty onerous for a D-I-Y'er to jump through all their hoops...

 

[Heavy tech]

I've never pulled permit for anything, looking around on the municipality's web site a while ago, turns out my neighbour is the building inspector.

I think it's just am empty title though, my neighbour is really the village clerk, and I've never heard of her "inspecting" anything. I guess somebody had to take the title.


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[gazza]

What about a permit to get a permit for another permit!!!

We are trying to extend our house and we cant even get started on a building permit yet because we have to get a town planning permit.

We live in a "Wildfire management Overlay" (bush block) and cant get the town planning permit untill we have submitted a "Wildfire Management Statement" which rates our block on a scale of 12-40 BAL (Bushfire attack level)

Just to assess and fill out this form by a "Qualified" person is $2500-$3000 au

Nearly 2 years so far, but we are still working on it.

 

[mrobins297aaa]

i know a lot of these regulations are necessary but sometimes I think a lot of it is just strangling us and keeping us from moving forward.

its like the old cliche from the 50's when ford was coming out with all there safety improvements. it went like this:

"Ford's selling safety and GM's selling cars"

sometimes i think that relates to us (the USA), were selling safety and the rest of the world is selling product.

 

[Farres]

Wow, my thread from November, 2012, brought back to life! A few updates: since my original post, I have completely gutted and rebuilt two bathrooms without permits. I hired a plumber on one, simply because I needed help plumbing a big Victorian tub. He knew it wasn't a permitted job but he took a look at the rest of my work and said he couldn't have done it better. Sweating copper--what's so hard about that.

I also hired a licensed electrician to wire up some new outlets and two GFIs. He was in and out in less than an hour.

Maybe I'll end up paying the piper down the road, but I see zero reason to pay for permits and inspections when I'm 100% certain the work was done right.