permits and payments

Status
Not open for further replies.
Rewire

Rewire

Senior Member
Location
Lake of the Ozarks
how do you apply for and pay your permit fees? Do you have to make trips to city hall or can you file over the internet. Are payments check or debit? Here we apply for the permit in person at inspection office then wait for approval then return to pick up and pay for permit we can only pay with certain bank debit cards or check/cash.
 
gadfly56

gadfly56

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Professional Engineer, Fire & Life Safety
Snail Mail

Snail Mail

Rewire said:
how do you apply for and pay your permit fees? Do you have to make trips to city hall or can you file over the internet. Are payments check or debit? Here we apply for the permit in person at inspection office then wait for approval then return to pick up and pay for permit we can only pay with certain bank debit cards or check/cash.
Click to expand...

Our policy is to do as much as we can by mail. Some jurisdictions won't take mailed applications or they officially take them but good luck asking about them afterwards.

I print the jacket and all the filled out technical subcode sections, sign where needed and get our EC holder to put his seal on anything involving branch circuit work. Then my drawings, equipment submittals, battery calculations (for fire alarm) and copies of my PE license and our company's fire equipment contractor's license (P-number, for us Jersey folks) go in the jacket too. The receptionist mails it all out with a cover sheet, and one week later I do a follow up to make sure they got it. Two weeks after they said they have received it I check the status. At some point they'll tell me, during a check-in or via voice mail that the permits are ready and the fee is $XXX, or the fill-in-the-blank subcode official needs to talk to me. Then I have Accounting cut a check, I send it in with a letter describing what it's for, the project location and what I expect back. I include a manila envelope with more than enough postage to cover mailing everything back.

That's the ideal situation. We don't like to send folks out to drop off and pick up permits 'cause it's expensive. Sometimes we can arrange it that the tech picks up the permits on his way in on the first day for a job, but the timing isn't usually there.
 
kwired

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
AHJ for 99.99% of work I do is at State Level AHJ. Office is like 175 miles away so I am not about to run to office for every permit pulled. You can either mail in an application with payment or file on line and pay with credit card and have your permit instantly(24/7 even)
 
gadfly56

gadfly56

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Professional Engineer, Fire & Life Safety
kwired said:
AHJ for 99.99% of work I do is at State Level AHJ. Office is like 175 miles away so I am not about to run to office for every permit pulled. You can either mail in an application with payment or file on line and pay with credit card and have your permit instantly(24/7 even)
Click to expand...

I guess they don't even pretend to do a drawing review :(.
 
G

GerryB

Senior Member
Location
woodbridge, ct. USA
Pretty funny the different parts of the country. Here in congested Connecticut I think every town has a building department, all with different hours, prices and such. Some towns make you run to the tax office to see if the address is up to date on taxes. One town clerk asked me if the fixtures were included. I told her no the owner was buying them and she said "Oh you have to include the fixtures", so I made something up to keep her happy. Another job in a different town I started early in the morning and went at noon to get the permit. So she asks me when am I starting and I innocently say "I started this morning". With a serious look and a straight face she informed me next time that would be a $25.00 fine. Most towns aren't to bad, some have a 4hour window for inspection, which could be a drag. My town inspector will let you take an "after the fact" permit for cases like the post the other day about picking up someone elses work. (gives you a little protection I guess). My favorite inspector is one I've known for many years who on occassion has said "What'd you do? You do it right? I aint comming to look at it." Those are few and far between, and I still have to get the permit!
 
R

Riograndeelectric

Senior Member
Location
Lakewood Colorado
I go in person to the city or county building department .

each city is different. some require that they be a certificate holder for Liability insurance other have to be listed as additional insured. At this time the state is the only on e were permits can be done via Internet.
 
kwired

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
ptonsparky said:
A what?:?
Click to expand...

GoldDigger said:
Yeah, what's a drawing?
Click to expand...

Inspectors don't even look at drawings on job site in most cases. They are there to inspect to NEC not to approve designs.

Another reason for the "Good Life" slogan the State of Nebraska has I guess.

In some of the larger cities there is more complex building permit process, out here in God's country, the State Electrical inspectors are the only thing that even resembles any kind of codes and standards official in many cases. Sure you are getting Counties that are wanting a building permit in recent years, but that is primarily so that they have a record of what you are building for tax assessment and not much other purpose. There have been recent conditional use permits also but this is for installations where there will be handling of hazardous material and environmental protection type issues and not for building code issues.
 
PetrosA

PetrosA

Senior Member
Location
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Some AHJs around here want drawings that then get sent to an inspector for review, others don't need drawings, just a written description. Some have PDFs you can download or even fill out on your computer, but I haven't come across any that allow filing via internet. Some charge a single fee for permit and inspection (they have their own inspector) while others charge an application fee plus a permit fee (recently $50 permit application, then $150 for the permit). Others charge a permit fee but electrical inspection is on you. Most want a state contractor number (hokus), some force you to purchase a local contractor's license, some accept an electrical license from certain other AHJs, other have no license requirements. You never know what you're going to run into.
 
electricguy61

electricguy61

Senior Member
Location
Remotely running business in Bay Area, CA from Med
Here in "Silicon Valley" / Santa Clara County, CA, most cities now have an online permitting process for things like service changes or small permitting issues. Once you buy a city business license (and of course have your state contractors license), you can pull most of your permits online, 24 hours a day, as well as scheduling inspections.
 
Fulthrotl

Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
Location
HB, CA (19 Hrs. 22 Min. from Winged Horses)
Occupation
E
Ravenvalor said:
I apply and pay for the permit with one telephone call and a credit card.
Click to expand...

y'all suck. around here, you go buy the business license first.
price goes from around $100 a year to $650 or so a year.

long beach is IIRC is about $350 for six months.

once you have a license number, you can submit
plans, or see if you can get a permit issued at the
counter. expect to wait a good long while. my rule
of thumb is to show up as soon as they open, and
plan on half a day.

then you get to deal with the inspector, who may or
may not agree with the inspector who approved the
drawings.

i ended up with a job that the homeowner had been
trying to get a final on (kitchen remodel) for over a year.

there were two inspectors, and the homeowner would
do changes for one, call for inspection, and the other
inspector would come out, and want something different.
she never could get the same inspector twice.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top