Written: 12/31/08
While the homeowner anxiously awaits the approval of a building permit, inspectors and architects/designers bounce different questions back and forth. This process is supposed to be relatively quick, but in our case, it has never been fast. Since our building permit request was filed upon approved plans by the architect/designer on November 17, 2008, there has been nothing but questions posed by our two inspectors. It is now December 31, 2008, and we still have no building permit.
Last year we endured the same delays when we requested a building permit. The review and questioning process lasted for nearly two months before approval for the first phase of our project. This came only after we contacted state officials about the delay strategies utilized by our local inspector, John Gulland.
The architect/designer bears some responsibility for the delays as their plans/designs are supposed to encompass all codes and requirements. When they do not, inspectors question aspects of it during their review and fire them back to the designer/architect. Usually the first round, at least in our experience, takes about three weeks to begin. The designer/architect responds after a short delay, and what ensues is a game of question ping-pong that the building owner pays for dearly.
Our designer and architect charge $75 and $125 an hour, respectively. An inadequate plan, as we have found, leads to numerous revisions, reprints, mileage, phone calls, etc. that requires you to pay a premium. The inspectors blame the designs for the delay, while the designers blame the pettiness of the inspectors. While their time clocks spin, your project remains on the backburner, and your ultimate bill soars.
You pay an enormous amount for plans, even when they don’t encompass much. You pay for that “good feeling” inspectors derive from expensive, fully-detail plans, while taxpayers, as a whole, pay for the inspector’s time (minus the building permit the owner pays for).
It’s hard to feel good about designs when your building is a rehabilitation project involving rental units. This is supposed to be one of the easiest classifications to design and build. Thus far, we have the following design costs:
$12,703.29 - 1st Phase (Residence + 1 One-Bedroom Apartment)
10,153.44 - 2nd Phase (Three Apartments – 1, 2, & 3-Bedrooms)
?,???.?? - 2nd Phase (Architect Fees – Not Billed Yet)
1,500.00 - 1st Phase (Plumbing Designs)
5,000.00 - Mechanical Drawings
1,500.00 - 2nd Phase (Plumbing Designs)
$30,856.73
Architects generally charge a minimum of $2,000 or more just for signing and stamping their approval on a set of plans.
Still we have no permit, expect more design costs, and can only guess how outrageous the architect bill will be. This is a lot of paperwork for no tangible gain in equity. As this is becoming the norm, breaking even on projects becomes more and more difficult.
These delays are more painful because we are in the middle of the winter and not allowed to insulate the lower level. This is approximately 5,000 square feet of un-insulated space. We requested on many occasions for the okay to insulate the lower level, but were denied by local inspector John Gulland. The second inspector on this project, Duane Grace, felt that a permit be issued to allow insulating. However, Mr. Gulland trumped Mr. Grace’s decision and has forced us to try to heat it from upstairs. This has proven disastrous in terms of fuel used and the money spent. This energy waste was avoidable!
This is the classic display of delay tactics, abuse of power, and unwillingness of some inspectors to help homeowners. The building codes should not give inspectors the power to interpret and enforce codes differently, often to your detriment. They cite energy codes and then force you to pump fossil fuels virtually right out the window.
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