Posted March 10th, 2020 by Zack Spellman
In which I talk about building code instead of building code
They say that remodels always take longer than expected. We were determined to be different, but as Anna Karenina reminds us, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. This is the story of how our remodel took an 8 week schedule slip, and the lessons we've learned along the way.
Two weeks into our kitchen remodel, things were moving at a great clip. Electrical was done and cleared to cover, plumbing was done, and mechanical (read: new gas line) was set to be inspected. We had a beautiful new underlayment for our upcoming LVT flooring, and new insulation was starting to go into the exterior wall in anticipation of a clean mechanical inspection. The shiny new appliances were staged in the garage, ready to be whisked inside when the time was right.
A week earlier, a separate contractor had finished installing new basement egress windows and wells, making our basement bedrooms safe to sleep in. Previously, the windows in those rooms had been set 60" above the ground, and were only 20" tall. When we were looking at getting our windows replaced our salesperson kindly alterted us of the danger that existed in not modifying those windows, and directed us to this contractor as someone who could modify the foundation and install code-compliant windows and wells.
We had just gotten back from vacation and had missed the mechanical inspector earlier in the day. We didn't understand this until a bit later, but the inspector had refused to pass us not because there was anything wrong with the new gas line, but that he could see significant work had been done for both the egress windows (and also some plumbing), both without permit.
When my GC stopped by the planning department the next day (Friday) to file the plumbing permit, he inquired about what would be required for the window wells as a way of trying to help me out with what my other contractor had missed. Upon hearing about the window wells, not only did they refuse to let him file the plumbing permit, they also immediately sent an enforcer to my house.
The enforcer arrived within an hour, presenting his business card bearing the delightful doublespeak title "Customer Response Team." I walked him around all the work that had been performed recently, and after having been at my house less than 10 minutes he graciously told me that since I'd been honest with him, if I could get all my permits filed in the next 45 minutes he wouldn't issue me a stop work order. Setting aside the fact that a/ the office closed in 15 minutes and was a ten minute drive away, and b/ it takes more than 5 minutes to prepare permit documentation (more on this later), I got my GC on the phone and we talked him down to Monday by 10am.
I would later find out that these are the people that show up when your neighbors anonymously report unpermitted or unsafe work going on. They are the champions of the meddlers, the swords of the spineless, true bureaucrats with tiny empires. I hope never to deal with one again, and I shall be filing a complaint to the city about the one who did show up at my house when all this is done.
My GC and I showed up at 8am Monday morning with permit paperwork and building plans in-hand, only to be told that now that the city was aware of already built construction, we couldn't file anything until we'd paid for and gone through an investigation inspection, where an inspector would notate everything wrong with the areas being worked upon so we had a complete list of things which needed permits (and what needed to be in them).
The inspector was too busy on Tuesday to see us, so they dropped by Wednesday instead (a small blessing, which I'll explain in a second). After a short walk through, he delivered the same verdict we'd had for almost a week: we needed a building permit for the changed windows, and a permit for the plumbing. As he left, I asked for his name and his card - he refused me a card ("I'm a ghost", he enigmatically said), and then it turned out he was the same inspector who had started this mess a week earlier.
For what it's worth, there was one more thing we were asked to file a permit for - something to explain why two of the rooms downstairs had all the surfaces ripped off the walls and were down to bare studs. You see, while my GC and his team were doing the kitchen upstairs, I was trying to resurface and reshape a couple rooms in my basement by myself. Why was I doing this on paternity leave instead of spending more time with my children, you ask? Don't worry, my wife asked the same question and I still don't have a good answer. What's important for this story is that I hadn't really gotten to the permit-filing stage yet.
Unfortunately, the city does not want to see multiple, concurrent building permits for a single property - too hard to keep track of, or something. So now I have to get my half-baked ideas drawn up into real plans, and present them to the city as part of the overall building permit where we're trying to get the okay for a couple of changed windows so work on the kitchen can resume. I work from the moment the inspector leaves on Wednesday and by Friday morning I have scale drawings of the as-built and planned changes for the two rooms.
So we take our GC and our plans and our whole family back down to city hall at 8am. Seeing that we mean business, the planning department brings forth a friendly face with the title of "Plans Examiner". He informs me that he will act akin to my high school english teacher, and will grade my plans and let me know what needs to change. I get a D Minus. No, I cannot file my permit today. No, I cannot go home, fix all the redlines, and try again today. Better luck next week. But hey, email the examiner directly and he'll grade your stuff remotely next time. Also - do yourself a favor and hire an architect.
Also also, there's a 3 week queue on assessing permits once they're accepted, so once they're okay with my plans I get to wait three weeks for them to stamp them, even though they won't even accept them until they're already going to pass. Apparently once we had un-permitted work we become banned from using the express, over the counter permit process. So, thanks window contractor for leaving me in this hole.
It's cool though, we were going to see an architect the next week anyway for phase two, where we remodel the garage and need building permits for that. So we all agreed to roll everything up into one mega permit - kitchen, windows, basement, and garage. It was going to be great.
This is, oh, Friday Feb 28th. By March 1st, the entire world will be freaking out about Covid-19 and buying toilet paper as fast as possible. Our architect schedules time for us on Thursday, but emails the morning of to say "I've got a fever and a cough, so I'll be going to the doctor instead of your house", with the vague hope we'll be able to try again next week. This turned out to not be the birthday present my wife was hoping for.
In the midst of all this, we were scheduled to have all the windows in our house replaced after waiting two months for everything to be fabricated. Normally window replacements do not require permits, but with the threat of a stop work order hanging over our heads (we didn't even know what this really meant), we weren't sure if that prevented windows from being installed as well.
Due to a quirk in fate, the installers showed up a day early (didn't you get the automated call?) and the inspector showed up a day late, and they arrived within minutes of each other. I was able to clear the window install with the inspector, and we've been able to celebrate our modern, warmer windows in the midst of the rest of this storm.
I will also note that everyone we have had to deal with in this process (with the exception of the enforcer) has been nice, helpful, and understanding, even if they haven't been terribly flexible with the process delays.
And, while I'm not an architect, I've learned a lot about drafting up plans and how a lot of civic systems I'd taken for granted work. So I'll no longer a stupid homeowner with a hammer, going forward I'll be a stupid homeowner with a hammer and a permit to use it.
Oh, and that eight weeks? One week to see a plans examiner, one week to wait for an architect, one week to Covid-19, two weeks (projected) to draw up plans after measurments, and three weeks of queue, minimum. What was originally intended to be done April 1st we're hoping to see done by June 1st instead. But it'll get done, it's just a matter of time.
Last edited: March 11th, 2020 03:02:10