Building without a Permit

[HeavenOnAStick]

I am having some difficulty right now with the city hall.

I have done some additions and constructions to my new home but I have forgot to get a city permit. (My mistake)
Therefore, I can't continue with the constructions until I get a permit.
I drew some plans and took it for a checkup to receive a permit.


I am wondering, is there a way to avoid all this hassle because everything he told me, it will delay big time. He says, I need to make the building "five" feet away from the side and it is 1 1/2' feet away. So I need to CUT the side of the entire room . But what bugs me is, before we moved in, that room was already like that and maybe they did not get a city permit and got away with it. So what can we do now?



Sorry bout the long write but I am so frustrated right now.
And is there a forum where I can talk about these things??

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: HeavenOnAStick
I am having some difficulty right now with the city hall.

I have done some additions and constructions to my new home but I have forgot to get a city permit. (My mistake)
Therefore, I can't continue with the constructions until I get a permit.
I drew some plans and took it for a checkup to receive a permit.


I am wondering, is there a way to avoid all this hassle because everything he told me, it will delay big time. He says, I need to make the building "five" feet away from the side and it is 1 1/2' feet away. So I need to CUT the side of the entire room . But what bugs me is, before we moved in, that room was already like that and maybe they did not get a city permit and got away with it. So what can we do now?



Sorry bout the long write but I am so frustrated right now.
And is there a forum where I can talk about these things??

If previous construction was not permitted, they can hold it to code if you do new work. I had to have some electrical work done by previous owners fixed when I started building this spring.

That said, they can ussually be reasonable, but it will help to get someone who know the system on your side. I'd consider hiring an engineer or general contractor to advise you if they are suggesting you tear down an existing part of your home. If it's something you just built though, you're probably out of luck. If it's a major violation, you'll be tearing it out.

I'd post this on alt.home.repair, or related newsgroups. Lots ofd contractor, etc there that can give you better advice.

 

[HeavenOnAStick]

Ok. First, we were remodeling the entire kitchen, 1 bathroom and made some new walls.

Then the city hall stopped us and told us we need permit for everything.


The planner tell me that two rooms can ....let me try to illustrate this for you.
We have a den that connects to the master room and the master room connects to the new room (not actually new but there without a permit before we moved in). Well, the problem is that the master room can NOT be in the middle like that, it needs to have its own opening or something.

So we have two options which is not cool. We have to make a hallway that connects the den to the new room directly, while having a door to the master room in the middle (hope you guys are picturing this). And that is a lot of work.

2nd option is, demolish the wall between the den and the master room so that it can now be a huge den. Now that sucks since we are losing a "master" room.

 

[Armitage]

By "master room" do you mean master bedroom?
If so, I understand. You're generally not allowed to traverse a bedroom to get to anything other then a bathroom.

Tough to say more without a floor plan.

 

[HeavenOnAStick]

Originally posted by: ergeorge


If previous construction was not permitted, they can hold it to code if you do new work. I had to have some electrical work done by previous owners fixed when I started building this spring.

What do you mean by have them hold it to code? Since I am in that same situation at this moment.

I'd post this on alt.home.repair, or related newsgroups. Lots ofd contractor, etc there that can give you better advice.

Great idea. Thanks.

 

[HeavenOnAStick]

Yup. A master bedroom. OH, I see. This totally sucks.

 

[Armitage]

If, in the process of inspecting new work, they find old work that doesn't meet code, they can make you fix it. I think they will "grandfather" some stuff that was up to code as it existed when the work was done. Not sure.

In my example, I had a new panel installed and upgraded to 200A service. They saw that a 220V line that the previous owners installed was not done properly, so I had to fix it.

This stuff probably varies by locality though. Your best bet is talking to the inspector & building dept. They can be a little impatient with DIYers, but they are generally not "Out to get you" and can tell you exactly what the rules are.

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: HeavenOnAStick
Yup. A master bedroom. OH, I see. This totally sucks.

A few options ... maybe
Can you possibly not call it a bedroom for the purpose of the inspection? This will be tough, because, in general, if it has a door, a window, and a closet, and isn't obviously a family room or such, they call it a bedroom even if that's not what you intend. I had to take a closet out of a den in my plans because it would have made my house a 4 bedroom, and my septic isn't permitted for that (would have to put in a bigger tank & field) The closet will go back in after its inspected

You could see if they'll allow it if that room on the other side of the bedroom has an exterior door.

Building an exterior hall or breezeway? Screw up your roofline probably.

Call it a really big walkin closet for the inspection? With windows even! Not likely.

Try to get a variance?

 

[HeavenOnAStick]

Originally posted by: ergeorge

A few options ... maybe
Can you possibly not call it a bedroom for the purpose of the inspection? This will be tough, because, in general, if it has a door, a window, and a closet, and isn't obviously a family room or such, they call it a bedroom even if that's not what you intend. I had to take a closet out of a den in my plans because it would have made my house a 4 bedroom, and my septic isn't permitted for that (would have to put in a bigger tank & field) The closet will go back in after its inspected

That room does have a window and a closet. How exactly do you take a closet out when it is there?

You could see if they'll allow it if that room on the other side of the bedroom has an exterior door.

Building an exterior hall or breezeway? Screw up your roofline probably.

Call it a really big walkin closet for the inspection? With windows even! Not likely.

It will definitely screw up the roofline but that is not a problem since they told me (the 5' feet gap between the building and the side) is a must. I also don't understand why the new room (the one way at the end) is even considered a room. We were trying to use it as a garage room. Maybe I should tell them and try to figure something out.

Try to get a variance?

Is that where you take action in a city council or something? Can you explain more?

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: HeavenOnAStick

Originally posted by: ergeorge

A few options ... maybe
Can you possibly not call it a bedroom for the purpose of the inspection? This will be tough, because, in general, if it has a door, a window, and a closet, and isn't obviously a family room or such, they call it a bedroom even if that's not what you intend. I had to take a closet out of a den in my plans because it would have made my house a 4 bedroom, and my septic isn't permitted for that (would have to put in a bigger tank & field) The closet will go back in after its inspected

That room does have a window and a closet. How exactly do you take a closet out when it is there?

Tear out the walls.

You could see if they'll allow it if that room on the other side of the bedroom has an exterior door.

Building an exterior hall or breezeway? Screw up your roofline probably.

Call it a really big walkin closet for the inspection? With windows even! Not likely.

It will definitely screw up the roofline but that is not a problem since they told me (the 5' feet gap between the building and the side) is a must. I also don't understand why the new room (the one way at the end) is even considered a room. We were trying to use it as a garage room. Maybe I should tell them and try to figure something out.

5' gap between building & side??
You mean your existing house is to close to the property line?
Yikes, that's a bad one. How close is it? Think you're neighbor would sell you the difference?

Try to get a variance?

Is that where you take action in a city council or something? Can you explain more?

I've never done it, but code requirements are not commandments from god. You can probably get exception to some stuff that isn't safety critical. I wouldn't know how to go about it though.

Again, your best bet is just working with the building dept.

BTW: It sounds like the work you're doing is largely interior? How'd the building dept. find out what you were doing that they came & looked at it?

 

[rahvin]

Code is the law. All construction must be permited and match code at the time of construction or your local government can force you to remove the non-permited work. This isn't just to protect you, it's to protect future owners of the home. Now if you have work that violates code and you feel that fixing the work is more costly than you can afford you can petition your local city council, mayor or county governers to give you a variance for the existing work. This is a minimum of a 6 month delay and you will have to document everything.