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NJ code help for detached garage nightmare

In my experience, inspections vary. Here, footing (form and rebar) was required, and completed foundation before framing started. After that, just completion, since framing is exposed.

6 vs 8 inches - ask inspector to point that out. That could be tougher fix than undercut.

Both fixes require skilled labor. Finding that in these times may be most difficult part.

Start calling masonry contractors in your area. You want them to design a solution acceptable to building department and do the work.
 
bill1952 said:
6 vs 8 inches - ask inspector to point that out.
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That bit of code will say "exposed ground". A concrete apron solves that problem.

R317.1 Location required. Protection of wood and wood-based products from decay shall be provided in the following locations by the use of naturally durable wood or wood that is preservative-treated in accordance with AWPA U1.

  1. *******
  2. Wood framing members that rest on concrete or masonry exterior foundation walls and are less than 8 inches from the exposed ground.
 
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John,

Not sure of the municipality, but as noted by others the theory of using a monolithic pour vs footing, block and slab is not one of better vs worse, just another way to get the same result.

Not sure of your contract, and I don't want to know the details, but its simple to rectify in theory, contractor was contracted to either build the plans or an equivalent building. Thus X wide, y deep and z high. This is the grey area, does your contract say they need to deliver a building per plans and meet all the code requirements, don't answer that not for us to know. But at a minimum any reasonable person would be expecting a building to be delivered per code since a building permit and inspections are required for the project.

Another wrinkle, who got the permits? you or the contractor? again don't answer that, if you did, then the contractor is a sub and delivering a compliant building falls on you not the sub in that your dispute becomes one between you and them nothing else, vs reporting them to a system that will do nothing about the license.

If they pulled the permit, then ask your legal counsel how to demand that the contractor correct all the code violations on their dime and deliver the building with a certificate of occupancy, per state law.

Depending on the county you live in, you could file a compliant with the DCA and they will review the contract and talk to the contractor about the issue, sometimes it helps and sometimes its the norm for the contractor.

The flip side to this might also be one that you are over looking, not saying it is, but the contractor might have never intended to do anything wrong, but truly was trying to deliver the least costing option for you, and at the same time learning the method and process and just missed the boat on delivery and is now put between a rock and a hard place.

In either case you are left with the building as is now, what is the path of simplest correction and least cost and aggravation.

My father used to say, never shop price, shop the project you want and the product you expect to get in the end, get more than 3 estimates, listen to the references and then decide if I can afford what I want. In the end it is rarely ever delivered by the low-end estimates or even the high-end estimates, its delivered by choosing the right firm to build it and the cost is the cost.
 
tbz said:
Another wrinkle, who got the permits? you or the contractor? again don't answer that, if you did, then the contractor is a sub and delivering a compliant building falls on you not the sub in that your dispute becomes one between you and them nothing else, vs reporting them to a system that will do nothing about the license.
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Why do you say that? The permit was issued for a specific set of plans. The contractor deviated and the inspector signed off on work that didn’t match the plans.

Where i am, the owner can submit for the permit, and will pay for it either directly or reimburse the contractor, but the permit is issued to the licensed contractor.
 
e hilton said:
Why do you say that? The permit was issued for a specific set of plans. The contractor deviated and the inspector signed off on work that didn’t match the plans.

Where i am, the owner can submit for the permit, and will pay for it either directly or reimburse the contractor, but the permit is issued to the licensed contractor.
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You never issue to homeowner who hires sub-contractors and is, de facto, the general contractor? Pretty routine where I've lived.
 
e hilton said:
Why do you say that? The permit was issued for a specific set of plans. The contractor deviated and the inspector signed off on work that didn’t match the plans.

Where i am, the owner can submit for the permit, and will pay for it either directly or reimburse the contractor, but the permit is issued to the licensed contractor.
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Ehilton, you have obviously never worked in NJ, they don't have licensed contractors like Virgina, Maryland and other states.

You pay your $95.00 and show proof of insurance with COI and answer a few questions, and presto your good to go for another year....

We worked for a huge number of homeowners that all submitted and pulled their own permits.

Whoever pulls the permits is on the hook for the compliance. The building department does not care about the mason or framer or the GC who is working for the homeowner as a general sub, but the homeowner can elect to be their own GC, they don't need to have a lic..

There are many consulting GC's in NJ, they are a person hired by the homeowner to walk you through the process, you pay X amount of dollars each month and they help you get all the subs, but the homeowner acts as the GC, pulls the construction permit and pays all the subs directly. Plumbers and electricians are different as they need a lic, but if the homeowner is doing the work themselves, they can pull the permits.

As to who the permit is issued to, that depends on who signed the form, many a homeowner looking to save a dollar has gone this way.

You don't have to hire a licensed contractor to pull and have a permit assigned to the project.

NJ is not anything like VI............
 
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