rifrickindiculous inspection dept

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brantmacga

brantmacga

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Georgia
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Former Child
my head is literally going to explode now.

situation:

I have a new store opening in 4 wks. We built two partition walls at the front to separate an area. They are free standing and tie into nothing structurally. The ceiling is acoustical tile.

My painter calls this morning and says the code compliance investigator showed up, put a stop-work order on the job and threatened him with a fine if he didn't leave immediately.

After a discussion with building dept. it seems that a permit is required to build these free-standing partition walls. Not just a permit, but I have to get an architect to draw the two partition walls on the plans, submit them for review, and wait several days for approval. Then once approved, I have to hire a licensed commercial building contractor to perform the work.

I'm trying to play nice because I have to deal with them a lot for electrical jobs, but this is the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. I'm on my way to the dept now for a face-to-face. I just hope they don't make me take the drywall down to inspect the construction of the wall.
 
that doesnt seem ridiculous at all. they need to make sure the walls are safe and wont fall over on someone. they need to make sure the spray pattern of fire sprinklers isnt affected, etc. where i am, all commercial construction has to be permitted, and owner-builder isnt allowed, only on residential.
 
wireguru said:
that doesnt seem ridiculous at all. they need to make sure the walls are safe and wont fall over on someone. they need to make sure the spray pattern of fire sprinklers isnt affected, etc. where i am, all commercial construction has to be permitted, and owner-builder isnt allowed, only on residential.
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Same here.
 
Same here -

A local contractor recently found out how important it is to go thru that same process when you demo just a couple of walls. (No other changes). It cost him a fair amount of money in fines.
 
brantmacga said:
After a discussion with building dept. it seems that a permit is required to build these free-standing partition walls.
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Bingo.....Nail on the head.....You didn't get a permit.

It's all about the $$$$$.

Government budgets are tight.....
They've got to find ways to wring every dollar they can from the taxpayer.
How else are they gonna pay for raises and all the new cars they budgeted for this year?

What if it were just some moveable partitions......Would the rules still apply?

Just my opinion
steve
 
You might have hit it on the head without knowing it.

You might have hit it on the head without knowing it.

Brantmacga,
One of the many concerns here is that the description you gave says not structural tie-in. Along with the other posts here, consider this: Earthquake, suspended ceiling becomes the only siesmic bracing for those walls, a little shimmy and shake and the walls come down, pulling the ceiling, maybe some lighting and a sprinkler head or two. You may not be in an active siesmic zone, or have sprinklers, but that all has to be considered in the review of the proposed work.

As for the fine, I can't do that around here, but I do have other tools at my disposal to stop work if needed. I wouldn't likely bother getting cranked up at a painter unless the work area presented some sort of danger to him.

I understand your frustration, but there are dozens of reasons for this which I won't bore you with at this point.

If you can post the results of your meeting, I would be interested to hear what they told you. It's potential learning for all of us. :)

Mike
 
brantmacga said:
my head is literally going to explode now.

situation:

I have a new store opening in 4 wks. We built two partition walls at the front to separate an area. They are free standing and tie into nothing structurally. The ceiling is acoustical tile.

My painter calls this morning and says the code compliance investigator showed up, put a stop-work order on the job and threatened him with a fine if he didn't leave immediately.

After a discussion with building dept. it seems that a permit is required to build these free-standing partition walls. Not just a permit, but I have to get an architect to draw the two partition walls on the plans, submit them for review, and wait several days for approval. Then once approved, I have to hire a licensed commercial building contractor to perform the work.

I'm trying to play nice because I have to deal with them a lot for electrical jobs, but this is the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. I'm on my way to the dept now for a face-to-face. I just hope they don't make me take the drywall down to inspect the construction of the wall.
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Rules is Rules... when it comes to safety, rules are not meant to be broken.

Dont fight it, just do the right thing and fix it, pass the inspection, and your head will not explode.
 
wireguru said:
that doesnt seem ridiculous at all. they need to make sure the walls are safe and wont fall over on someone. they need to make sure the spray pattern of fire sprinklers isnt affected, etc. where i am, all commercial construction has to be permitted, and owner-builder isnt allowed, only on residential.
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Same here in Ohio as well.
They want to make sure you follow code, do work safely, path of egress isn't affected, emergency lighting isn't affected, etc...
Nothing at all rifrickindicolous about it.
Nothing ridiculous about making you tear out the drywall to inspect the structural members of the wall assembly, and any plumbing or wiring thereof. Before you say it, the studs in the wall are supporting themselves, so they are the structural members of the wall assembly.
This is what happens when you break the rules.
Oh, since they did catch you, you can probably expect them to "throw the book" at you and make you meet every little nuance of the local building codes as well. I'm going through that now with my bosses other business.:rolleyes:
Good luck!
 
brantmacga said:
After a discussion with building dept. it seems that a permit is required to build these free-standing partition walls. Not just a permit, but I have to get an architect to draw the two partition walls on the plans, submit them for review, and wait several days for approval. Then once approved, I have to hire a licensed commercial building contractor to perform the work.
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It is unfortunate. Many resi jobs, depending on your jurisdiction, there would be absolutely no problem not having a permit for a non structural wall. However, the commercial world is very different with many rules that we don't see with resi work. Some of those rules have been stated.

It also sounds like you need a special license to do commercial work in your area. A lesson learned the hard way. Tough break... it appears you were just unaware of the rules.
 
"However, the commercial world is very different with many rules that we don't see with resi work."


Yes, and so is the process to plan and layout these jobs, the professional fees, the additional time to schedule with other trades, and any added expenses for moving heads, or adding exit lights, moving emergency lights, these jobs can eat up a budget real fast, and if you din't price it right at first, you usually come up on the loosing end.
 
it didn't go as badly as it could have.

The partitions are to separate the front counter from the rear employees only production area. They are 'L' shaped so they won't fall over, and are attached to the slab at the base.

Anyway, when I got there they were pretty teed off. I had double permit fees, a court summons, a $1k fine, a request by the local dept to have the state place sanctions on my electrical license, etc. . .

So I talked to the plans examiner. I had a copy of the store layout and drew on there where the two partitions were. He said they didn't care about what I was doing, they just wanted the permit money.

The code investigator wanted to drag me under the bus with these sanctions and taking me to court. I just had to be sweet as pie with her and ended up with double permit fees, no fine, no court, and a warning. Turns out I went to church with some of her family. She wanted to have the state put sanctions on my electrical license because I added a data drop for my computer w/o a permit. Which is odd, because the last time I talked to the electrical inspector, he told me they don't require permits for LV work and he doesn't inspect it. Guess they're not on the same page.

I have to get a commercial building contractor to pull the permit, and these walls are going to cost me an extra $500 now.

Anyway, that's what happened.
 
brantmacga said:
it didn't go as badly as it could have.
The code investigator wanted to drag me under the bus with these sanctions and taking me to court. I just had to be sweet as pie with her and ended up with double permit fees, no fine, no court, and a warning. Turns out I went to church with some of her family.
Anyway, that's what happened.
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It would have been a much better story if you told us you ended up getting a date with her. :D
 
Dennis Alwon said:
It would have been a much better story if you told us you ended up getting a date with her. :D
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I have never herd of them being this strict about a data drop or anything else. Normally they will only make you pay twice the permit fees and then rake you over the coals on the inspections. I have been there several times when the owners didn't get permits and it's a bear, you have to charge about 50% more because they normally try to make sure they have learned a lesson but I have never seen anyone actually fined unless the fail to heed the warning.

Sound like this lady believes in tough love.
 
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