As has been mentioned multiple times in other threads,
"free info is worth what you pay for it." If you live in a rural area where codes are lax in enforcement, and you're zoned AG (Agricultural) then something like this situation is possible. Anywhere you're in an incorporated area, the likelihood of sailing through blithely-unaware of what needs to be done to accomplish this type of a build is a recipe for frustration, disappointment, and expenses outlaid without completion of the intended project.
Any time I see posts like the following (doing some build without fully investigating the AHJ ordinances) asking your local AHJ
first is always what I suggest if I choose to comment. Sometimes the best advice you can get is, "your proposal is not feasible." As a Florida licensed plans examiner and Lifesafety Inspector, I daily came across issues of a similar nature, or trying to make legal an unpermitted structure.
The fact this OP found the local AHJ willing to work 'off the back of a used envelope' is not what my experience has been, where I am part of the AHJ. My answer to people seeking to initiate such projects is always the same: for the fewest headaches,
'comply with code.' Tradespeople are much better acquainted with the meaning of this. The lay person doesn't understand, in many circumstances, the significance of the statement. Just filing for a permit often involves input from zoning, engineering, mechanical, structural, plumbing, and electrical disciplines depending upon the scope of work. My oversight is narrowly and specifically defined. If your proposal for site development involves all these areas, and you are not a subject matter expert with appropriate credentials, finding someone who is (probably 'those who
are') is what you likely will need to do just to apply for a permit.
If you live in a rural area where regulations and ordinances are less stringent, population-wise, I maintain you are in the minority. My review of your project proposal is always the same as far as my goals: to have you 'comply with code.' Any forensic exam of a failed site development will quickly proceed to 'what was permitted, where are those documents to show the permitting results, and who did the permitting?'
Ever since the Surfside FL Champlain Towers South building collapse, where 98 victims died, south Florida has seen multiple instances of occupancies like condominiums or apartments being declared unfit for habitation, with occupants being given a handful of days to vacate, pending the work being performed to returning the structure(s) to code compliance. Unfortunately, deferred maintenance and repairs not performed by condominium boards or HOA's, result in residents or tenants unable to afford the work to be done. In many instances, the buildings may end up condemned and razed, a 'brownfield' site awaiting new development under current code. The Champlain Towers South site is being redeveloped as we speak. Condo owners in the demolished development have accepted payment for their properties and the incidental loss of life, where that has occurred, but now some of them are demanding that the site not be developed by the current property owner. It will be re-developed.
In a quiet closing, a Dubai-based developer took control of the property 13 months after the building collapsed.
www.tampabay.com
