Reducing Stop Work notices ideas - No, I need your ideas.

[BN4537]

Set up a narc program.

(1) Have an online database open to the public where they can look up an address and see active permits. Limit the publicly available info, obviously, but the goal is that you can find out if someone has a permit for what they are doing.
(2) Charge double or triple permit fees on WWOP.
(3) Everyone who sends you a good tip on WWOP, you give them a $25 gift card paid for by the double or triple permit fees.

Big Brother is watching.

 

[mtlogcabin]

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[Yikes]

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I'm in shock that the Kalispell I remember as a kid had 224 million in construction in the last 9 months, and that the majority of it was new commercial work.

 

[Yankee Chronicler]

One of the things I see residential remodel contractors do a lot is a simple letter of agreement which includes the clause "owner responsible to obtain all permits required by the city". It's their equivalent of driving into a fee parking lot and they issue you a receipt that says "this contract limits our liability", which just because they said it does not mean it is true.

Technically, the property owner is always responsible for either obtaining the required permit(s), or ensuring that someone else obtains them. When contractors take out permits, they are doing so as agents of the property owner -- whether or not the owner or the contractor understands this. If the contract stipulates that the contractor shall obtain permits -- the contractor just becomes the owner's designated agent for the purpose of obtaining the permit(s).

Unfortunately, many owners don't understand (a) that permits are required, or (b) that it is ultimately their responsibility to make certain that required permits have been obtained before any work has started.

 

[tmurray]

Work without a permit.

My question, Are you trying to just issue less stop work orders, or actually trying to get people to proactively get permits?

When you get on site, if everything looks like it would be acceptable, I would hand them an application and tell them if they got it all filled out and back to me in a week there would be no stop work order. But if I had to issue a stop work order, that I would also have to double their fees. I did have to give out stop work orders when I saw issues with how they were proceeding (mostly zoning related) because I didn't want to let them keep spending money if they didn't get zoning approval. Most people were pretty receptive to this approach.

If you are trying to get people to proactively get permits, you need construction retailers on board. Just having them hand out a permit application for major projects can be a huge help. The other issue is the contractor who claims that permits are the owner's responsibility. We have approached this issue by making it the responsibility of the constructor to get permits and comply with the code. The owner is only the constructor when there is no contractor. Constructors have not been granted the legal authority to delegate this responsibility to owners. This allows us to go directly after contractors.

 

[Yikes]

Technically, the property owner is always responsible for either obtaining the required permit(s), or ensuring that someone else obtains them. When contractors take out permits, they are doing so as agents of the property owner -- whether or not the owner or the contractor understands this. If the contract stipulates that the contractor shall obtain permits -- the contractor just becomes the owner's designated agent for the purpose of obtaining the permit(s).

Unfortunately, many owners don't understand (a) that permits are required, or (b) that it is ultimately their responsibility to make certain that required permits have been obtained before any work has started.

Yes, except that a licensed contractor KNOWS that inspections are required, and if (for example) they are ready to pour a foundation but there’s no inspection card and they don’t call for inspection, and they don’t ask the Owner for the inspection card, IMO they are complicit.