rifrickindiculous inspection dept

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Pitty you are not in South Carolina. Here, a residential builder can do up to $5000 of commercial work. This has come in handy on a building I own.

c2500
 
480sparky said:
Even a shed or porch. Fences or decks as well.
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here.

siding, painting, re-roofing no permit required. new windows, no permit required.

fence does. however, my understanding is they don't inspect fences.

deck does if it is attached to house. if not attached, does not require permit.

shed does not require permit if less than 100 square feet.

repairs and or replacement of existing equipment no permit. you can even convert a water heater from electric to gas w/o a permit. i had my gas water heater moved from upstairs to the basement and the contractor said it required no permit since they were able to plug it into an existing outlet. if a new outlet was installed, they would have had to get a permit for that though.

when I got my furnace replaced, I had an attic fan installed. the contractor said the village inspector told them no permit or inspection was required for that fan as long as they tapped into an existing circuit.

bathroom remodeling did require multiple permits and inspections.
 
Strahan said:
This topic may be a little off electrical but permits are required for everything including electrical. And of course an inspection is required for EVERYTHING the part that pisses me off is the inspections are crap. Most of the time it is a 5min inspection sorry but that doesn't cut it. I've seen my local township inspector pass things electrically that never ever should pass. They don't look at the circuits sizing proper grounding or anything that would tell me its legitimate and not about the money. Don't get me wrong I think the whole inspection process is a neccessity to stop shotty work but don't make a joke about thats what leads me to believe this is just another way to take a few more dollars out of our pocket!
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But, they don't charge enough to keep good inspectors paid, plus all the other support staff, and hit all the inspections they have in a day.

In most places, the fees from the building department stay in the building department, and pay for inspectors normal pay, plus benefits, classes, mileage, same for plans examiners, and the people behind the counter. Not to mention local code development.
 
"When the government fears the people there is liberty; when the people fear the government there is tyranny."

Thomas Jefferson


steve
 
hillbilly said:
"When the government fears the people there is liberty; when the people fear the government there is tyranny."

Thomas Jefferson
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So how do we turn the latter into the former?
 
one more permit story.

my neighbor wanted to put a roof over his front porch steps so he would not have to stand in the rain while unlocking his front door.

the village made him get a zoning variance because his roof was going to extend 6 inches into the 27 foot setback area required.

he also had to get some kind of permit from the army corp of engineers because it was claimed that his little roof (maybe 8x6) was going to somehow affect the watershed.

took almost a year to get all the paperwork for a $700 roof.
 
petersonra said:
one more permit story.

my neighbor wanted to put a roof over his front porch steps so he would not have to stand in the rain while unlocking his front door.

the village made him get a zoning variance because his roof was going to extend 6 inches into the 27 foot setback area required.

he also had to get some kind of permit from the army corp of engineers because it was claimed that his little roof (maybe 8x6) was going to somehow affect the watershed.

took almost a year to get all the paperwork for a $700 roof.
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Sad testimony to how far out-of-hand things have gotten.
 
DanZ said:
Why is that sad? What's wrong with proving beyond a reasonable doubt that you're not messing with the watershed, or the flood plain, or putting roofs over spots that power lines or bucket trucks might use?
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if you could see what was there before hand, and what he replaced it with, you would have a better feel.

he had an aluminum canopy at one time that blew off. It was only slightly smaller than what he wanted to build because he wanted to make it a little wider so he could put a lawn chair there next to his front door.

there is no flood plain issue because it is not in a flood plain. the power lines are behind the house perhaps 100 or 120 feet away and in the middle of the street perhaps 50 or 60 feet in front of the house.

i have no idea why its a watershed issue. i looked at the plot map when i bought my house and there is nothing there about it. ironically, at the time he had the roof built there was nothing behind him for close to 200 yards but an open field. plenty of water shed back there.

IIRC, the cost of the geo-whatever engineer to deal with the watershed permit was three or four times what it cost to build the thing.
 
petersonra said:
if you could see what was there before hand, and what he replaced it with, you would have a better feel.

he had an aluminum canopy at one time that blew off. It was only slightly smaller than what he wanted to build because he wanted to make it a little wider so he could put a lawn chair there next to his front door.

there is no flood plain issue because it is not in a flood plain. the power lines are behind the house perhaps 100 or 120 feet away and in the middle of the street perhaps 50 or 60 feet in front of the house.

i have no idea why its a watershed issue. i looked at the plot map when i bought my house and there is nothing there about it. ironically, at the time he had the roof built there was nothing behind him for close to 200 yards but an open field. plenty of water shed back there.

IIRC, the cost of the geo-whatever engineer to deal with the watershed permit was three or four times what it cost to build the thing.
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I think you get the idea, and I hope you see my point. For many years, it was the norm to let people mess with these things, until someone figured out how bad it had gotten.

That's why we have a lot of the code and permit requirements we have. Or, at least why they started.

Now, we have to prove we aren't doing "x" and are following the code.

Imagine how bad it would have been if had built it without getting permits!
 
DanZ said:
Why is that sad? What's wrong with proving beyond a reasonable doubt that you're not messing with the watershed, or the flood plain, or putting roofs over spots that power lines or bucket trucks might use?
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Reasonable doubt? :confused: Common sense would dictate there is a reasonable doubt that an 8X6 roof over a porch step will offer no more increase in threat to soil erosion than an uncovered step. Common sense would also seem to dictate that a roof over a step should be in step with almost any design parameter for a 1 family dwelling...so where's the zoning issue...green roof instead of brown? Just plain dumb-headed. A bureaucratic snag ( seven months) created by people with too much time on their hands. A camel is a horse designed by a committee.
Thank goodness "zoning" is unique to each area, and not uniformly applied. This allows someone to move away from a neighborhood devoid of common sense.
 
steelersman said:
in my area permits are required for installing curtain rods and closet organizers.
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I wonder how many curtain rod permits are actually issued?

There is a reason for it though. The permits drive the property tax reassessment system in most places. They use every pretext they can to raise your property taxes.

I was actually proud of our county board chairman the other day. He said people should protest their assessments as a lot of houses are over assessed due to the slow down in home sales.
 
wbalsam1 said:
Reasonable doubt? :confused: Common sense would dictate there is a reasonable doubt that an 8X6 roof over a porch step will offer no more increase in threat to soil erosion than an uncovered step.
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What about the holes dug or drilled for pylons?
wbalsam1 said:
Common sense would also seem to dictate that a roof over a step should be in step with almost any design parameter for a 1 family dwelling...so where's the zoning issue...green roof instead of brown?
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Almost any, not all. Even that house didn't have one like the one that was built! (Unless he used a canopy like the one that came off). And in some areas, yes, roof color can require a zoning variance. There are areas in ohio that require copper gutters, and they have to be painted, and the paint has to be maintained...
wbalsam1 said:
Thank goodness "zoning" is unique to each area, and not uniformly applied. This allows someone to move away from a neighborhood devoid of common sense.
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True! What's the best thing about a house boat or a motor home? If you don't like your neighbors, you can just pick up and move!:wink: :roll: :grin:
 
petersonra said:
I was actually proud of our county board chairman the other day. He said people should protest their assessments as a lot of houses are over assessed due to the slow down in home sales.
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A friend of mine is building a house, and just recently put grass in his front yard. Then, his house was reassessed. The value went from $250K to $450K. He called to find out why, since the last time it was assessed was less than a year ago, when the final inspection was taking place, and the response was "Well, we figured you just got finished with your house, so it's got to be worth more now.":rolleyes:
 
petersonra said:
steelersman said:
in my area permits are required for installing curtain rods and closet organizers.
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There is a reason for it though. The permits drive the property tax reassessment system in most places. They use every pretext they can to raise your property taxes.
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That's not the only reason: permits for work done by someone other than the homeowner require business licenses, which also increase revenue.
 
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