I agree, over reach ***** but no concrete rules are even worse...
Bingo!
my hobbies have changed over time because of such bureaucracy. Being broke; There's no real enjoyment in the things I used to like to do.
The plan is working!
That's fine, we probably don't want you here anyway.
Some places are less on top of things than others. This was a active house listing in Pittsburgh from a flipper. Inside was just as bad. It just gets worse as you look.
Rittman brings up a good point, the inspector only sees inside the house (or around the house depending) if they are asked to inspect. You can violate every code imaginable inside and no one will know.
Yes what a waste of time and materials!
Another way around that would be to get all the permits pulled for a property, typically that would include sign offs.
It sure was, I was very glad that I could spend the money on the garage instead of a lawyer, although anyone with a pulse could have beaten that silliness about an "indefinite article" - dictionary definition of the word "an". At least if we were arguing about intended usage that would have made sense, this was just somebody with an out of date agenda that thankfully got the boot.
Well the permit is only good for so long. You'll just have to pay for it again if the work doesn't start within a certain time
Around here that is a year, for the last one I just called in for inspection on the last day before the permit would expire knowing it would fail just to keep the permit alive.
Well some people feel the way you do. In some places, that might work with the local building authorities. In others, though, that won't fly at all. Often, it comes back to bite you when you go to sell the property.
You have to read between the lines I guess.
I have a friend that did that. Went to go visit him one day after not being at his house for like a year. Drove by 3 times and realized it was the place that looked like a junk yard and it's right across from a 800k house. Pros and cons to living in the county
Well, before we sold our previous house in 2021, I had a new roof installed. Just before the new owner closed on it, I was informed that the permit for that roofing job hand never been closed, despite the job being completed almost 60 days before that. The sale couldn't close until the permit was closed. I made a call to the building authority in that town, since I had already moved. They had no record of the sign-off on the permit. I checked my phone, though, and found the call from the inspector, who had called me after doing the inspection. I called him and explained that the permit was still open. So, he checked. Someone had typed in the wrong address at the building authority office, so the permit was never closed.
That would be might pricey to renew every 6 months for the last 10 years. No thanks.
Very true, I was standing one time in the building permit department’s office when next to me was a man trying to find some older building permits for an addition to his house.
Yes. It happens. And, if the non-permitted addition isn't up to code, the entire sale can go down the toilet. That happens, too. More often than people realize.
I learned something from the sale of our previous home. If you hire a contractor to do anything that requires a building permit, don't make the final payment for the work until the work is approved and the permit is closed. The contractor is responsible for scheduling the inspection. If you won't pay unlit the permit is closed, that keeps the contractor's attention on your project. Then, pay promptly. Be sure any mechanic's liens are cleared, too. Stay on top of those things and everything will go smoothly."I've always wondered about this when it came to electrical work where the permit is still open or never pulled. If it was done correctly who cares?"
The banks care !!!!!
Had open tickets on plumbing and electric only because no one signed off when the jobs were done 20 years ago, the mortgage lending bank required the sign offs. Took me a couple of weeks running around to architects/contractors and $300 to get the signatures. Then 3 visits to the dept of buildings and and inspection from the DB; building dept first told me it might take a month or more to get the inspection done. Could you imagine if I still needed work done or the inspection failed. All this when the buyer wanted to buy the house before the interest rates increase.
Electrical Inspector comes, he told me he just wanted to see if the electrical plates were in place and he would sign off.
Wow. What a money grab."I've always wondered about this when it came to electrical work where the permit is still open or never pulled. If it was done correctly who cares?"
The banks care !!!!!
Had open tickets on plumbing and electric only because no one signed off when the jobs were done 20 years ago, the mortgage lending bank required the sign offs. Took me a couple of weeks running around to architects/contractors and $300 to get the signatures. Then 3 visits to the dept of buildings and and inspection from the DB; building dept first told me it might take a month or more to get the inspection done. Could you imagine if I still needed work done or the inspection failed. All this when the buyer wanted to buy the house before the interest rates increase.
Electrical Inspector comes, he told me he just wanted to see if the electrical plates were in place and he would sign off.
It's not even the HO or buyer getting cold feet. It's the banks, lawyers and title co's. If the sale can happen w/o a public mortgage then most of this goes away. The CO may be the only holdup.
That's true. I thought the home inspector looked into this kind of thing. I was wrong.
Something tells me the washout fee wasn't paid.
It was. His wife said that they ended up paying over $10K
