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Joined: Apr 2002
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Gentlemen:

Brought over from another thread, and let's see if we get any 'action'.

Permit issues, both from the AHJs and the Contractors!

Sound off here!


John
Joined: Jul 2004
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How could that be? Building departments are well oil machines aren't they wink


Greg Fretwell
Joined: Jul 2004
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That HVAC thing we were talking about involves a bit of a dance. They will drop the condenser, get the mechanical final and walk it through for the CO on the day before the close or maybe the day of the close if it is late afternoon.
Back in the days of big bonuses my wife actually closed houses with out water, to a customer who wasn't planning on moving in right away. The buyer got a little bit of a break on the price to close before the end of the quarter and everyone made their bonus.

Those were crazy times.

Now days it is just the theft thing. Nobody wants several thousand dollars worth of condenser sitting outside a vacant house. People are even stealing them from occupied houses. They even leave the lineset coiled up in the attic and don't shove it out the hole until they set the condenser. People are buying expanded metal cages for their condensers. I suppose they will get stolen too. Steel is 13 cents a pound.


Greg Fretwell
Joined: Apr 2002
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Greg:

We have been fortunate (or lucky), as I am only aware of two (2) HVAC units 'vanishing' from a SFD that was vacant. That was about 2 years back, and there's thought that they were 'repossesed' by an unpaid person.

We had a few instances of copper plumbing thefts, and recently 600KCMil copper.

BTW, we do not have a Mechanical Inspector. It goes to Elec (wiring & OCP), Plumb for condensate & gas piping, Fire for flue/PVC venting, & Bldg for ductwork. I know that having to 'wait' for four (4) possible inspectors may sound crazy, but that's how it is.




John
Joined: Jul 2004
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That might be the same guy here. When the AHJs started laying people off it was by the number of licenses you held. The more you were licensed for, the better chance you had to survive. First to go were the guys who only had a driver's license (the code enforcement guy, tall grass and cars on blocks in your yard). Then it worked it's way down from there.
We had a lot of overqualified gray hair riding around running calls on nosy neighbor complaints.


Greg Fretwell
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 1,803
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Here's a result of copper theft: Not sure if it was cable or mains-gas pipe, [usually copper in the UK.]
By pure luck, no one was hurt. Note at 0.25 the front door swings shut as an overpressure wave travels in front of the actual gas explosion.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/new...uge-gas-explosion-at-Yorkshire-home.html


Wood work but can't!
Joined: Oct 2000
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http://www.dps.state.vt.us/fire/forms/index.html

Vermont's permits are fairly user friendly, if i were to suggest any change, it would be to include a short narrative along with of the list of specifics.

I mean, we're asked to wire some wierd stuff at times, or invited into reno's where we really haven't much of a plan until it gets opened up. Vt's dept is permit funded, nothing much from the general fund, so we're supporting the trade's well being via a permit here

The state's biggest complaint right now is that contractors start work then file a permit, that's been a growing problem since the economy dictated we sit by the phone and do backflips for a living

On that note, one of the more tenured state silverbacks gave me his cell # , and the priveldge to call in on my whereabouts, permit in the mail by end of day....

The only other thing that's changed is their name, it's no longer the 'Dept of labor & Industry' , it's the 'Dept of Public Saftey' Rumour was because they can get Homeland Security grants, but i still see them driving the same old beaters....

~S~

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I have never heard of a big problem with Lee County's electrical permit/inspection process. IMHO they are too easy. I have seen things approved that I would never let get by.
Florida enforces a uniform electric code state wide, basically the 2008 NEC with a couple changes.

Where things get tough here is the structural code. They have a real wind code and the permit must be submitted with stamped engineering for just about anything (even a little shed). They do not have those exceptions you hear about up north for "portable buildings". (sheds or structures below a certain size, no floor or without a foundation etc). If you set it up on your property, it needs to meet the wind code with engineering to prove it and you need a permit. Virtually none of those "shed in a box" things you buy up north are legal here. The feeling is if it is not an engineered structure, it is a missile in a storm.
There are some preassembled sheds we accept but they have been engineered to code (essentially "wind code listed") and require a foundation or an approved tie down system, permitted and inspected.

That blindsides a lot of people. They build a little shed for their lawn mower with plans from a book at Home Depot and end up tearing it down.
It took me 4 tries to get my addition through plan review and I knew the drill. In the end the engineer ended up stamping the original plans I drew with a few additional notes from his CAD program and that sailed through.


Greg Fretwell
Joined: Apr 2002
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Sparky hit a good one with this comment:

"The state's biggest complaint right now is that contractors start work then file a permit, that's been a growing problem since the economy dictated we sit by the phone and do backflips for a living"

I understand that these are not 'the good times' that we had, but tough times for a lot of us. That said, yes, a job may vanish while getting a permit, because someone else 'just did it' without.

I don't have an exact figure available, but within the last 60 days, the Twp office probably issued $15k in fines for work without permits. That's the ones that were caught! Some were for starting jobs while the apps were in for plan review.

We have legal, approved procedures for 'some' jobs going forward before the actual paper is issued, but the procedure must be followed, or a honest effort to communicate with the construction office.

I'm a firm believer in 'most, if not all' of us have one time or another worked without permits.

Now, we here know it's not just a "Jersey thing"!



John
Joined: Jul 2004
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Generally speaking, getting caught working without a permit here results in double all of the permit fees plus the cost of opening up anything you have done for a look inside.


Greg Fretwell
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