steveray
SAWHORSE
Frost depth exempt for 400sqft I believe for other than light frame....But there are other issues that should be remedied...
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NJ code help for detached garage nightmare
- Thread starter JerseyJohn
- Start date
tbz
REGISTERED
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.
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.
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.
bill1952
SAWHORSE
You never issue to homeowner who hires sub-contractors and is, de facto, the general contractor? Pretty routine where I've lived.
JerseyJohn
REGISTERED
Thanks very much to all of you for your time and help. I really appreciate it.
tbz
REGISTERED
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............
Last edited:
Yankee Chronicler
REGISTERED
According to the ICC version of the IRC, a permit is issued to the owner or the owner's authorized agent. When a permit is issued to a contractor, the contractor is applying as an agent of the owner and the permit runs to the owner. If a building department issues a permit to a contractor, they should be issuing it to Shoddy Home Construction LLC as agent for John Doe.