The demolition guy wants the customer to pull the permit ?

[John Timmins]

OK I started a different blog "If I Hire an Architect" which was very educational.

I want to tear a house down and have a new one built on my lot. The back yard is on a salt water canal.

Meanwhile, the guy across the canal wanted to add on and build another couple of bedrooms on his house and hired the same architect I want to hire.
He decided not to add on because the architect said the building requirements and stem walls and whatnot would be a messy design - thanks to new elevation requiredments. He would need a step in the house going from old to new areas.....

So, my neighbor decided to do a teardown, and build a new house. He's telling me he found a demolition guy with all the front end loaders and dumptrucks and would have the guy call me about doing my teardown. So I'm talking to the demo guy and he will call when he can stop by and give me an estimate. My neighbor gets an estimate for $4300. Then my neighbor tells me the demo man WANTS THE CUSTOMER to pull the demolition permit with the city !

RED FLAG ! RED FLAG ! I've read the Demolition Permit. It has pages for somebody to sign that there are no rats getting loose and then there's the ASBESTOS remediation part to check off. Meanwhile cutting the water off is easy, and capping the sewer pipe where it leaves the house is easy.....and an electrician can erect a temporary power pole to keep my workshop powered up and my beer cold...... but I can't get over that part about the demolition guy wants the customer to pull the permit !

To me it's only about a $50 permit maybe $100....no big deal really. To me if a contractor won't pull a permit he doesn't get the job. My neighbor thinks it's just a demo job, but I'm saying the City will not sign off on the demo until they make sure all the old concrete is removed and the lot is filled and graded as needed. for all I know they might want the bare dirt sodded ?

The city engineer head inspector said the guy might not be licensed and have proper insurance and all that which is not my problem. I feel that the problem is working with somebody that can't GET a license or lost it.

Do I need to explain it to my neighbor that if he hires somebody who wants to work under the radar that it could be trouble ? I know I wouldn't hire anybody who is scared to pull the permit himself.

 

[augustus]

I think you can just tell him why you aren't going to use that guy and leave it at that.

 

[mikegt4]

A friend of mine has been in the demolition business for 45 years. There is no way for a demolition permit to be $50 in today's world especially next to the water. Around here a permit to install a new water heater is going to cost $50.

You are correct, the red flags are flying straight out!

 

[John Timmins]

Well you're right. I just hope he insists of a permit pulling guy. He's very trusting....maybe too trusting. I'll tell him not to pay the guy until the permit is signed off.

He's have his new house built by one of those big companies that you pick the house plan from their catalog. Maybe he should have that company do the demo and add it to the new home price.

 

[larry_g]

Well you're right. I just hope he insists of a permit pulling guy. He's very trusting....maybe too trusting. I'll tell him not to pay the guy until the permit is signed off.

He's have his new house built by one of those big companies that you pick the house plan from their catalog. Maybe he should have that company do the demo and add it to the new home price.

In addition to not paying till the permit is signed off in the contract I would insist on an insurance binder and the licence number of the person doing the work. Talk with the permitting /inspectors office and see what they will be looking for and have all that in the contract also. I pulled the permits for my house, shop and basically acted as GC. The only people who cannot work under my permit is the electrical contractor, they have to pull their own.

Your state may be different. Either way you have to put the onus on the company you hire to do the job correctly.

On edit. If the neighbor goes ahead and all works good for him then your probably OK hiring the same guy.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[pcmeiners]

"The city engineer head inspector said the guy might not be licensed and have proper insurance"

"might" is a rather political way of putting it. The guy has NO insurance and NO bond. Basically the owner of the land will need to remedy ( as in money) any issue presented by the county if the contractor is hired....get the running shoes on

 

[Angelfire]

First indication of a problem is when the "contractor" won't pull a permit himself.....he's probably not licensed. I'd look elsewhere.

 

[CJ7VFR]

"The city engineer head inspector said the guy might not be licensed and have proper insurance"

"might" is a rather political way of putting it. The guy has NO insurance and NO bond. Basically the owner of the land will need to remedy ( as in money) any issue presented by the county if the contractor is hired....get the running shoes on

That is the first thing I though too. No license and probably no insurance.

If you pull the permits, then what would be your recourse if something happened and the demo guy had no insurance or license? Would you be liable for any damage done, say, to your neighbors property, or if one of the demo guys got hurt on the job at your place?

Is there a way to go to your township and check to see if this demo guy has done other jobs in the area, and what the township has on file for permits for his work?

Jim

 

[ddawg16]

As long as the demo guy is licensed and bonded....I don't see an issue.

I pulled the permit for my garage demo....and the demo company was about as legit and professional as you can get.

In case any of you haven't pulled a permit lately, it takes a couple of hours out of your day. And a couple of hours to a contractor is lost money.

If the demo guy has the above....then pull the permit. It's saving you money.

Or, you could pay him to do it.

Now, if he was saying NO permit....yea, big issue.

 

[LXCam]

Well if the total scope of work as you state is required for the demo permit, is your neighbor planning on doing this himself? If that's the case and he is only looking for tear out and removal I don't blame the contractor. If he's legit, I don't see a problem. There's been a few occasions thru 20 years of contracting I had the customer pull the permit, but mostly because they didn't want to pay for my time. Some places it's a slam dunk deal and you're in and out in under an hour. Other times depending upon the scope you can spend several days getting approval which can add hundreds to thousands to the cost.

 

[rslaback]

I wouldn't worry that much about it. You pull the permit, he does the work to satisfy the permit, you pay him.

 

[ddawg16]

Well if the total scope of work as you state is required for the demo permit, is your neighbor planning on doing this himself? If that's the case and he is only looking for tear out and removal I don't blame the contractor. If he's legit, I don't see a problem. There's been a few occasions thru 20 years of contracting I had the customer pull the permit, but mostly because they didn't want to pay for my time. Some places it's a slam dunk deal and you're in and out in under an hour. Other times depending upon the scope you can spend several days getting approval which can add hundreds to thousands to the cost.

LA County is now into the building material recycling mode.

I pulled my own permit because there was a lot of foot work related to it. A few forms to fill out...etc. The demo company was great about giving me the info I needed.

In the end, over 95% of the material was recycled.

All of the concrete slab and stucco from the walls was recycled (now in some section of concrete fwy). All of the wood....I think they even recycled the asphalt shingles.

 

[wasfuzz]

I remember in the 70's going to the county landfills around LA and seeing the Pick up trucks loads of material being salvaged by Hispanics. Then seeing the same trucks S/B on the I-5.

 

[John Timmins]

Update: I spoke with the guy across from me and he signed a contract for demolition with the guy who wants the owner to pull the demo permit with the asbestos remediation policy and not rats running away addendums and more.

He also signed a contract with the company that will build his new home. They offered to tear the house down and haul it off for almost double the price to prep the lot etc (probably hiring the same guy ), and the new home builders ALSO required the homeowner to pull the demo permit.

Something is going on here that doesn't pass the smell test. I'm going to speak with the building department and possibly the city engineer about this Demolition Permit that appears to be too scary for anybody in business to sign.

I have no problem with the Demo Permit or the cost of it. It allows the city and the neighbors the opportunity to know what's going on and keeps the unlicensed assholes in check.

My problem is so many attachments to the knockdown permit which should be an application for knockdown, sewer - water - and electric cut off, the tree removal allowance (permission), start and end dates, final inspection that all the slab is gone - all reasonable requirements. But if the permit is too scary for contractors to sign, I for damn sure won't sign it.

Some of you readers around the USA or world for that matter probably think I am beating to death a dead horse here with this subject. But then again you probably don't understand red necks that pretend to be professionals, and I live in the red neck capitol of the world. Everybody who owns a nail apron is a master carpenter even if they don't understand the fractions on a tape measure. Some can't read the permit.

The same guy might be an expert doing a concrete driveway or digging a perfectly sloped ditch and then does a barbed wire fence, but I'm not going to sign a demo permit taking on the liability of the fine print for THAT kind of guy. All I want for a demo job is to write the check.

 

[jetnow1]

I have spent hours sitting waiting to get into to get a building permit, only to be told they were done for the day, come back tomorrow. Some towns/cities are very time consuming to deal with. In that town I tell my clients that they can pull the permit, or pay me $50/hr
to sit there for as long as it takes. The permit requires my license number and name on it
even if the customer pulls it.

 

[nadogail]

Agreed, pulling permits can eat a lot of time. Time someone should be paid for, if they are not included in the price of the job you should consider spending your own time.

 

[srleen2]

Not sure how it is out there - but the home/land owner signs the permit application here. The license/bonding/insurance info of each contractor doing work is required in the permit for workers comp proof. If the contractor wanted to do the permit - they would have to bring it to you to sign/notarized anyway.

My demo permit took 5 minutes to complete and sign in front of the building dept secretary who is a notary. They called me 2 days later to pick it up.

 

[mz44]

The permit has to be in your name, your the taxpayer not the contractor. The application should ask who the contractor is and ask for proof of license and insurance. I doubt you are accepting liability by pulling it yourself. As long as you have a signed contract with the contractor the liability will be on him. But as the owner you are responsible to make sure all required permits are pulled. The contractor doesn't want to be liable because he forgot to pull a zoning permit with the building permit, or something like that, so he is just putting that on you to save him some hassle.

 

[buddyboy]

before you go alerting every elected and non-elected official in the county about your neighbors project, call this demo guy and ask him why he would like the homeowner to pull the permit.

might be that in order to pull a demo permit both the owner and contractor need to be there.

if i didn't like my neighbor I could call up a demo guy and have him come rip down my neighbors house while they are away on vacation.

spouses going through divorces could really screw with one another

 

[Hilltopmasonry]

As long as the demo guy is licensed and bonded....I don't see an issue.

I pulled the permit for my garage demo....and the demo company was about as legit and professional as you can get.

In case any of you haven't pulled a permit lately, it takes a couple of hours out of your day. And a couple of hours to a contractor is lost money.

If the demo guy has the above....then pull the permit. It's saving you money.

Or, you could pay him to do it.

Now, if he was saying NO permit....yea, big issue.

+1 i am a contractor and give my customers the option to get their permits to save money. Some jobs that requires permits are so small that i have to double the cost to cover my expense to get the permit...or if they dont want to deal with it they can pay me....

There is a difference from a contractor not being able to pull permits due to no insurance as opposed to being able to and not wanting to or having the time to stand in line at the building dept

 

[Hilltopmasonry]

Here is a funny story about dealing with permits....my dad goes to the building dept of a town that we do alot of work in. Gets there at 1015 am and the line is long (as usual) slowly the line moves with the one lady behind the glass. Of course the other people (employees) behind the counter are not going to lift a finger to help move the line a little faster. An hour and 45 minutes later my dad is finally next in line and the lady looks at her watch and puts a sign up "at lunch back at 1230".....so my dad is standing there and the lady sits right in front of him and proceeds to eat her lunch with my dad standing there watching her..lol well he cant get out of line since it is long as hell behind him

So yea dealing with permits is not fun even if you are getting paid

 

[Big Bad Dad]

Does your locality require an asbestos survey? If so, and asbestos is present it will become a bit more pricey. Homeowner will be responsible for any asbestos from now on, even when abated and taken to a certified disposal site. Homeowner will be named on the asbestos disposal manifesto. (Federal laws)