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Posted by Shannon Pate on October 6, 2006, 8:25 pm
As a homebuilder that goes by the book, I'd recommend that you obtain the
building permit.
Last week, I was visiting one of my homes that is being built in a city in
which I have never worked. As I walked around the exterior, I was very
pleased with the work of the siding contractor who had just begun working
that day. Then, I suddenly remembered that this particular city required a
housewrap inspection. In eleven years building homes in at least 10
different municipalities, I had never had a housewrap inspection, so it had
slipped my mind. I immediately stopped the siding contractor and called the
building inspection office. I explained exactly what I had done. I told
them that I knew I was supposed to have the inspection, that I had forgotten
and the siding crew had begun. I asked them if they would inspect the rest
of the house or if I should begin tearing the siding off. Since I was
upfront, honest, and asking them to help me find a solution, they broke
their rules, and inspected the remainder of my housewrap and allowed my
siding to remain.
The point of the story is, the city is not going to make an example of you
because you have built a deck without a permit. They would rather work with
you and be sure that you have built a safe structure. The inspector will be
checking the connection to the house, the size and spacing of the joists,
the handrail height and spacing of balusters. He'll also be checking
flashing at the ledger, the height and continuity of the risers and treads,
the footing under the support posts and the size and connection of these
posts.
The most common failures occur in the stairway. However, if the contractor
has significnat experience working in this area, he should be well aware of
the prevailing codes and build a structure that is suitable.
Regards,
Shannon Pate
>I posted a thread on my contractor and the problems I have had in
> building a deck. Bottom line is that my consts are now over 22K for a
> 270 sq foot deck and it is still not done. One of the issues that came
> up is the issue of a building permit. I did not know that a permit is
> required, and from asking everyone that I know it appears that a permit
> is indeed required. I am very worried now that if I attempt to have an
> inspector come now, that they will find something that will require
> additional work, or disasterously require that the deck be basically
> rebuilt.
>
> I would point out that there was an existing deck present in the same
> location, and this deck is replacing the old one. The old deck was
> definitely not up to code since the joist distances were 32 inches, and
> it had no flashing, and it has structural deficiencies as well (poor
> design). The current deck has corrected all those deficiencies. Of
> course I have no expertise, so there could be something out of code
> that I cannot see.
>
> Would others go to the city at this point and attempt to obtain a
> permit with the risk of having them find something requiring major
> additonal work? I am planning to have the 2nd story wall above the
> deck surfaced with brick, and this time, I definitely make sure that a
> permit is obtained, so an inspector will be accessing the 2nd story via
> this new deck (once it is completed) although I guess he would not
> know that this was newly completed other than by it simply looking new.
> So an inspector will see the deck. Would such an inspector possibly
> go out of what they were asked to look at if there are no glaring
> deficiencies?
>
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