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1 or 2 Permits For A New Commercial Building

2 permits are usually easier, but still not the be all/do all... particularly with residential buildings needing to deliver a few floors at a time. LEED doesn't generally address the permitting process.
 
fatboy said:
"and just getting plans for electrical, mechanical, and plumbing was ah........like pulling teeth"We don't issue any tenant finish permits until we have the required plans..............if they can't start, they will get what you want.

Yes, for those of you who love to point it out, we hold the permit hostage.
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fatboy,

That is where I'm at - no plans, no permit. Luckily, this is a single tenant building, not a 6 space mini-mall.
 
Pcinspector1 said:
Papio, how long is the TCO allowed for? I've got a shell bldg with four open bay's going on three years now!pc1
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PC...typically a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy is used for landscaping extensions. We are about to issue one now, due to the extreme heat, the likelyhood of the trees surviving the rest of the summer is less than slim to none, and it would be ridiculous to require them installed just to pass final inspection. We require a letter from the owner specifying the date by which work will be completed (we let them pick from the two seasons in spring and fall) along with a copy of the bid from the contractor (in some cases we require the bid money to be put into escrow for completion by the City should the owner fail to meet their requirements). If work is not completed per the conditions of the TCO (and the owner makes no attempt to work with us), then the TCO is revoked and in some cases we have locked up the building or tenant space. This is obviously severe, but once their insurance agents find out they don't have a Certificate of Occupancy, they are usually find a way to meet compliance.

Three years would be too long for a commercial project, however I believe some of our zoning codes allow for residential landscaping to be completed within the first seven years (which we do not actively enforce). This is why we don't do TCO's for shell buildings and with TCO's for tenant finishes, once those conditions expire, we will no longer accept permit applications. We place the whole property on hold.

Hope this helps. It's not a perfect system, and we have give and takes, but it seems to work with us as long as we stick with brudgers theme of 'how can we issue this permit' or in this case, 'issue this CO.' Sometimes, the owner needs to aske themselves the same questions.
 
1. i don't believe you can require a single permit for the entire project. when the core/shell is proposed, frequently there is no tenant on board at all, so how can one permit TI work.

we will issue simultaneous permits (C/S and TI) only to a common contractor. that we we aren't on site daily acting as construction arbitrator. there are no arguments about who did what to who's work. we have floated the option of signed agreements from both C/S and TI contractors stating the core/shell contractor is the ultimate authority on the site, but none have ever gone for that.

otherwise, we wait until the core/shell is complete and COed and the building is an official building.

2 the LEED thing has come up here. we don't have an answer for that.
 
Mr Softy said:
1. i don't believe you can require a single permit for the entire project. when the core/shell is proposed, frequently there is no tenant on board at all, so how can one permit TI work.This is a single tenant, USFS, 24,000 sq. ft. commercial office building that is being built. A better way to have phrased it would probably be a two phase project, not a TI. Shell first, then finish interior during winter months.

we will issue simultaneous permits (C/S and TI) only to a common contractor. that we we aren't on site daily acting as construction arbitrator. there are no arguments about who did what to who's work. we have floated the option of signed agreements from both C/S and TI contractors stating the core/shell contractor is the ultimate authority on the site, but none have ever gone for that.

otherwise, we wait until the core/shell is complete and COed and the building is an official building.

As of this posting, the 'contractors' who are scheduled to do the job don't have an active CA contractor's license. I'm afraid it will come down to an 'owner/builder' situation and it will be a fiasco.

2 the LEED thing has come up here. we don't have an answer for that.
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The LEED portion I think I have figured out now. Thanks to everyone.
 
Mr Softy said:
otherwise, we wait until the core/shell is complete and COed and the building is an official building.
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On a side note, we don't currently issue certificates of occupancy for building shells. I am not sure what occupancy a building shell would be certified for. What occupancy do you use?
 
"What occupancy do you use?"

You don't, you have to have an occupant to detemine that. We will issuee a Certificate of Completion if the contractor asks when the C/S is completed.
 
most of our C/S projects are Planning Board approved, so the use is already determined. Without exception, they have been B-use buildings.
 
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