A friend who shall remain nameless called. He lives in the county in a different state. He launched into a small addition with no permit. He has it framed and dried in. He received a letter from the county ordering him to cease and desist. He called wondering what they can do to him if he just keeps going.
I didn't really have an answer. I did tell him that if there was a need for the electric company to do any work on the service, they would not perform without permit approval. Other than that, what can they do? This guy is a bit of a renegade. I explained about the yes, sir/no,sir - gee, I'm sorry approach. He's headed a bit more along the my castle, my kingdom, damn the torpedoes approach.
Other than fines in addition to costs for the permits they could refuse COO or even order the property put back in its original state. Being the cease and desist order is issued, the question of his being outside a jurisdiction requiring permits is almost certainly settled against him. At this point its only how onerous the particular regulations are and how punitive they care to be assuming he chooses not to cooperate.
The city limits expanded out to and around my Grandfather's house in the 1950's. The city notified him he would have to have an 'indoor' bathroom. He was happy with what he had and told the city off, in no uncertain terms.
He fought with them and then; eventually built the bathroom. It had all the current features, tub, sink, toilet, mirror. All the fancy stuff. He did not connect the plumbing to the city.
He returned to city hall and told the bastards: 'now make me hook is up'.
Thee are a few possibilities. He may be able to say he "forgot" to get a permit, pay the fee and keep on going. If he decides to contest it all, they have the power to make him take it down. In any case, I'd not do any outdoor work until the situation is resolved as that will just aggravate the officials. Doing the indoor finishing is risky too, as they will want to inspect electrical, etc before it is closed up.
If he is building to code it is much easier to resolve than if he is in violation, not matter what he, you, or I think of the practicality of the situation.
At work we moved our production into a building we bought 8 years ago. Suddenly we have to bring the entire building up to code due to the new use. This is over $250,000 in upgrades and we have no choice. I suspect your friend will be in the same situation.
It is a dammable shame that property owners cannot build their own homes. It is happening all over the US. The insurance companies and financial institutions have attempted to stop people from building their own homes so people are forced to go into debt. I live in Alaska in a borough where we can build our own homes, put in our own wells, and septic systems. That is why I live in Alaska and suggest the rest of you move here and help us keep the banks and insurance companies out of our lives. My motto is this: I had rather live in a 2 by 4 shack that I own than live in a mansion with a mortgage.
Steve might be right about there being nothing you can do. Maybe wait a day until this thread is on groups.google and send him the link so he'll hear it straight from us.
Being an inspector is probably boring a lot of the time, but they keep at it partly because they need a job and partly because they have convinced themselves they're doing something worthwhile. Which they are, 98% of the time. A case like your friend's puts excitement in their lives. And if he can just ignore their orders, then everyone else will think they can too. Plus it's an insult to be ignored.
They won't let this go.
The longer this goes on, the more your friend will pay, in time, money, effort, and delays, maybe permanent, in getting his room built.
Although all the facts are different, this reminds me of when I had to borrow 50,000 dollars from my brother to buy my house. He didn't hesitate to lend me the money, but when I asked him to send it express mail, he balked at the 10 dollars even though I was going to pay it. He said it was too much money and WHAT COULD THEY DO TO ME if I didn't have the money that day. This was a guy who had already bought a house for himself. I said the contract was expiring and he might sell the house to someone else**. He send the money Express Mail.
**Another friend had a house for sale and the buyer couldn't get a mortgage in the 45 days allotted. The day after the contract expired, someone knocked on my friend's door, liked the house and paid cash.
So he should be humble, apply for the permit, apologize, be humble, ask what he do to make things right, be humble, apologize, and maybe the inspector will be nice to him, like he would have if he had gotten the permit in the first plac.e
permit fees in my area are based on the cost of the remodel. We did a complete foundation replacement, a 12x22 extension/room addition, and new sewer lines and the permit was about $400.
It's the government brute squad. Unlimited resources to take your life, liberty, or property, as they see fit.
Don't think they won't. Building codes and permits are chiefly about boosting the profits of a few tradesmen via barriers to entry and restraint of trade, so the code/permits/licensing goons tend to have powerful enforcement when they are roused by a cheeky homeowner.
Although Florida has a law guaranteeing her citizens the right to work on their own domicile within codes and permits but without a trade license, I've stood in the Broward County building department and listened as the chief plumbing inspector said a guy with three engineering degrees wasn't allowed to replace an ordinary kitchen faucet in his own home.
Your friend should either submit fully to these authorities, or hire a construction lawyer to contest anything unfair.
There are a couple things they _will_ do if he ignores the notice and continues building, none of them very pleasant; the worst involves fines and jail-time. They [the country inspectors' office] could also make him tear it down. This happened to a neighbor of mine that built an enclosed patio "extension" when he went to sell his home. All that effort and money because he also had a "Permits!-we-don't-need-no-stinking-permits!" attitude.
The cost of a permit is nothing compared to the aggravation (and increasing frustrations) he's going to be feeling if he continues to ignore the order.
As others have said, he should visit the county offices with a humble attitude. A quick purchase of the permit, set up an appointment to have it inspected, a minor walk-through to let the inspector point out a few "areas of improvements," and your friend will get to keep his new structure.
There's nothing you can really say to someone who knows it all. They will either learn or not learn by their own experience. If he's a friend of yours, don't say anything, and just watch.
Undoubtedly, eventually it could lead to that in virtually an jurisdiction if the recipient were stubborn enough. Just how far one could push it would depend entirely upon the locals--if they've gone far enough to issue the order, it would be unwise to ignore it, certainly.
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