Are Permits necessary?

[me6]

What if you only wanted to live the temporarily each year?

Say 6 weeks in Jan-Feb?

[default]

Like was said before, it depends on where you are. There are parts of america that still think this is a free country, and you can build anything you damn well want, as long as you stay away from wetlands. And there are other parts of the country where you're not allowed to replace an outlet or park an RV.

[Charles Spitzer]

do you want it insured?

[Greg]

This gets back to my idea. Get the damned government out of the "owner/builder" permit business altogether. Let the insurance company administer it with private inspectors. They already do this with building loan "draw" inspections so the infrastructure is in place now.

[me6]

No

This would basically be a "cabin" back in the woods. No lights, running water.

Just a wooden shelter only. Heck it might even be a small wooden shed or Tuff Shed like you'd buy from Home Depot. Big enough to sleep in and keep some gear

A place to "live: for a 4 week hunting trip

Does that info help?

[Greg]

So who is going to rat you out if you do? I say go for it. Your biggest chance of getting in trouble is if you build it on the nest of some endangered stink beetle or something.

[Norminn]

Who do you want to fine us for code violations - Allstate or State Farm? Are you in favor of tarpaper shacks? They meet the community standard in some places.

[Greg]

You don't get "fined" for permitted code violations, you just get a failure card that has to be cleared before you get a certificate of compliance. If the insurance company was involved you would fix the violation before youir insurance would kick in. Folks say that is true now, where is the change?

If that is the standard, who am I to dissagree? Who are YOU? It still gets back to who is hurt and who is liable? I am talking about OWNER BUILDER, not homes for sale or work for hire. The government has made the permit process so complicated and expensive that MOST people will avoid it if they can, hence this thread. There should be a simpler way for a homeowner to get a real inspection of their work, perhaps even some guidance. You sure don't get either from most building departments. You never will when they are doing an inspection every 12 minutes, including travel time.

[Jeff Cochran]

Permits have two functions. The first is to notify the local authorities that you are performing the work so they can verify that the work meets standards adopted by the jurisdiction you're in. The second is so that authorities can verify that what you intend to do is allowed within the jurisdiction.

For example, expanding a bathroom may require that you meet certain plumbing and electrical codes. In addition, your jurisdiction may have restirctions on what you can do in your bathroom remodel. For instance, if you move a window it may hve to be a certain size or style in your area.

The drawback of not obtaining a permit is the possibility your local authority will find out, in which case there are penalties and remedies you can be required to pay or meet.

A third factor permitting in some cases is the noyification to local taxing authorities of a potential increae in the taxable value of your property due to the renovation.

Jeff

[Jeff Cochran]

That depends greatly on the location, as well as the quantitiy of permits issued. In our area for example, about 60% of the properties receive permits in a year, and permit revenue generates significant reserves.

In most areas permit fee income must be spent in the process of managing the permitting and inspection process. Which means a surplus in building department revenues can't be used to buy a new fire truck or hire more trash collectors.

Depends on the jurisdiction, and it's quite doubtful a dog house would require a permit in most areas.

Not really. Nor are they the ones charged with creating and administering the codes. Permitting is an area that really can't be privatized.

Jeff

[Greg]

It has been in a lot of places. (2 years in Fla) You still must go through zoning but the actual plan review and inspection is privatized. This does require an engineering firm to sign off on code compliance. They also need an OK by the AHJ but in Florida you could sue to show cause why the AHJ didn't go along. For contractors it is cheaper to simply go through the county since the contractors have people to sit around the permit office and they have the economy of scale since they submit mastered plans a dozen or more at a time. A contractor also does not mind "drive by" inspections. They don't have any questions.

[default]

The trouble is, the government can do "inspections" at a reasonable rate, because they're not liable for missing anything. If you privatise inspection and do *certification*, as a private individual, you're going to need substantial insurance coverage, highly trained inspectors, and a lot more time per house. Paying for that is almost certain to exceed the savings for doing it yourself, anyway. I don't believe there's any way to provide the kind of support you're envisioning to homeowners without creating some kind of immunity to liability.

-Goedjn

[default]

Pitch a tent. $400 or so of canvas and rope, cut the sticks on site.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Depends on the town. In my town, the inspector is reasonable, fair, and has offered suggestions to fix problems or keep them from happening. The inspector truly can be your friend.

[William Morris]

In our town, that's illegal. In this way, the inspectors are like vampires: they can't cross the threshold without invitation.

Our local inspector, an extremely reasonable man we'll call "Pete," once told me that he views permits as being more for safety reasons than for anything else. According to the letter of the law here, just about anything you do electrically or structurally has to have a permit. According to "Pete" he'd rather I not pull a permit for installing a new outlet (which The Law says I must) because it's not worth a $40 permit for a $5.00 job, but when we upgraded from 60 amp service to 200 amp a permit was ABSOLUTELY necessary. Why?

Because if the house burned down and it was caused by a problem with the new wiring the insurance company would look for a permit and approval first thing!

- Wm