Building Without Permits

[patric]

There is a house being built in my neighborhood without permits. A single-story home was torn down, dozens of loads of dirt were trucked in to raise the grade about four feet, concrete forms and rebar have been set, and PSO hooked up construction power...
all without a permit. There's even a big orange porta-potty in place for every passing lawn service to use.

At what point will the city tell the neighborhood "Oh its to far along to stop now"  ?

[rebound]

There is a house being built in my neighborhood without permits. A single-story home was torn down, dozens of loads of dirt were trucked in to raise the grade about four feet, concrete forms and rebar have been set, and PSO hooked up construction power...
all without a permit. There's even a big orange porta-potty in place for every passing lawn service to use.

At what point will the city tell the neighborhood "Oh its to far along to stop now"  ?

How are you certain there is no permit?  Just curious.

[LandArchPoke]

There is a house being built in my neighborhood without permits. A single-story home was torn down, dozens of loads of dirt were trucked in to raise the grade about four feet, concrete forms and rebar have been set, and PSO hooked up construction power...
all without a permit. There's even a big orange porta-potty in place for every passing lawn service to use.

At what point will the city tell the neighborhood "Oh its to far along to stop now"  ?

Probably depends in the neighborhood keep on the city over it. Could be like Mohamad Hadid's mansion in LA he built without permits they're making him demolish.

If they build it without any inspections from the city I can't see how the city would escape any liability if they let it stay up and there is any found code violations the city would be at fault for not requiring the demolition of whatever is built.

https://therealdeal.com/la/2020/03/24/court-tosses-mohamed-hadids-demolition-appeal/

[LandArchPoke]

How are you certain there is no permit?  Just curious.

You can find all permits online if you go to the city website. So if there's not one on there then it means the city hasn't issued any. Unless there happens to be an error and they missed that particular parcel's permits in the system (which is always possible)

[patric]

You can find all permits online if you go to the city website. So if there's not one on there then it means the city hasn't issued any. Unless there happens to be an error and they missed that particular parcel's permits in the system (which is always possible)

Ive looked, a couple times, and 311 just sent me to inspectors voicemail where calls werent returned. Nothing posted on-site, either.  I know at least an electrical inspector was out at least once to red-tag (fail) their temporary electrical pole. You would think that inspector would have noted that the papers werent in order.

[Vision 2025]

Sounds like maybe the builder is waiting until the last moment or that the permit is in the works because the chances of getting all the way thru without permits is slim to none.

[buffalodan]

Oh! I can help here. My house was built without permits. It was a flip. Added a second story, master suite, widened the driveway. (which actually didn't meet code, but we didn't have a code review...)

We eventually alerted the city and they had to go back through inspections to get a COO. I couldn't get insurance until the city approved it, and that required a permit. They were good to work with. Tore out some drywall and did spot checks to make sure everything was up to snuff. As it turns out, that tore the profit on my house and you can tell which parts of the house were built in the "eh, screw the finishing touches" portion of the project. Also, the guy who did the work didn't like to get a permit because he did an expansion in Swan Lake and that paperwork was a pain.

So if I were you and worried about the impacts that they could have then I would call the permit center, explain the construction, and ask why the permit doesn't exist. They are generally nice and understanding people, so I don't expect the house to come down and have to be rebuilt. But I would expect that lowers the chance of their house catching fire or blowing down in a wind storm.

[patric]

Sounds like maybe the builder is waiting until the last moment or that the permit is in the works because the chances of getting all the way thru without permits is slim to none.

Is the Last Moment when they ask for a Certificate Of Occupancy?  The construction is very incremental at this moment but the porta-poty is sure getting a lot of use :-(

[Vision 2025]

Is the Last Moment when they ask for a Certificate Of Occupancy?  The construction is very incremental at this moment but the porta-poty is sure getting a lot of use :-(

I can't imagine getting temp and especially permanent utility connections without permits but hey they try.  Even the temp power requires inspections and the inspecting authority (the City) is supposed to notify the power company to authorizing installing the meter.  At least that's how is supposed to work.