Yankee Chronicler
Registered User
There's a new breed of self-styled "professionals" stalking the jungles of construction and code enforcement: permit expeditors. I know such critters have existed for a long time in big cities such as New York, but they are now showing up in small towns such as the one I work in (population approximately 40,000). My opinion of them is that they are as worthless as construction managers, and IMHO they don't earn however much they get paid to handle the permitting process on behalf of their clients.
I've had several run-ins with them over the past couple of years, but this latest one rises (or sinks) to an entirely new level of either incompetence or, perhaps, just plain hubris.
The application is for some equipment shuffling and upgrades in an existing McDonald's, with the construction of a couple of short lengths of new wall. No alterations to the dining room (other than relocating the ordering kiosks) or the toilet rooms. In my first plan review, I asked if they had applied to the Health Department. They had not, so they then sent the Health Department a set of plans that was different from what they submitted to the Building Department, and also different from the REsubmittal to the Building Department. ALL three sets of plans clearly call for relocating the handwash sink in the kitchen area. The Health Department notified them that because the hand sink is being relocated, a formal application to the Health Department and a formal review by the Health Department will be required. The Health Department inspector copied me on the e-mail, because since I joined the Building Department I have made it a priority to coordinate with other departments in the hope of avoiding issues down the road. This project is a poster child for why this is necessary.
The woman from the permit expeditor firm e-mailed back to the Health Department this afternoon that "I’d like to clarify there will be no alterations made to the kitchen, including the hand sink. All scope of work is limited to the front counter area." She attached a copy of what she said is the "most detailed version of the floor plan," which isn't a floor plan at all (it's a pseudo 3-D rendering with the plan on an oblique plane with the walls and furnishings shows as 3-D objects sitting on the plan), and which is a drawing that we've never seen before. Meanwhile, in the revised construction documents set, there are no less than FIVE sheets that clearly show the hand sink being relocated and new plumbing being routed to its new location.
We are not amused.
I've had several run-ins with them over the past couple of years, but this latest one rises (or sinks) to an entirely new level of either incompetence or, perhaps, just plain hubris.
The application is for some equipment shuffling and upgrades in an existing McDonald's, with the construction of a couple of short lengths of new wall. No alterations to the dining room (other than relocating the ordering kiosks) or the toilet rooms. In my first plan review, I asked if they had applied to the Health Department. They had not, so they then sent the Health Department a set of plans that was different from what they submitted to the Building Department, and also different from the REsubmittal to the Building Department. ALL three sets of plans clearly call for relocating the handwash sink in the kitchen area. The Health Department notified them that because the hand sink is being relocated, a formal application to the Health Department and a formal review by the Health Department will be required. The Health Department inspector copied me on the e-mail, because since I joined the Building Department I have made it a priority to coordinate with other departments in the hope of avoiding issues down the road. This project is a poster child for why this is necessary.
The woman from the permit expeditor firm e-mailed back to the Health Department this afternoon that "I’d like to clarify there will be no alterations made to the kitchen, including the hand sink. All scope of work is limited to the front counter area." She attached a copy of what she said is the "most detailed version of the floor plan," which isn't a floor plan at all (it's a pseudo 3-D rendering with the plan on an oblique plane with the walls and furnishings shows as 3-D objects sitting on the plan), and which is a drawing that we've never seen before. Meanwhile, in the revised construction documents set, there are no less than FIVE sheets that clearly show the hand sink being relocated and new plumbing being routed to its new location.
We are not amused.
