Permitting is an area that really can't be
privatized.

It has been in a lot of places. (2 years in Fla) You still must go through
zoning but the actual plan review and inspection is privatized. This does
require an engineering firm to sign off on code compliance.
They also need an OK by the AHJ but in Florida you could sue to show cause why
the AHJ didn't go along.
For contractors it is cheaper to simply go through the county since the
contractors have people to sit around the permit office and they have the
economy of scale since they submit mastered plans a dozen or more at a time.
A contractor also does not mind "drive by" inspections. They don't have any
questions.

There should be a simpler way for a homeowner to get a real inspection of their
work, perhaps even some guidance. You sure don't get either from most building
departments. You never will when they are doing an inspection every 12 minutes,
including travel time.

The trouble is, the government can do "inspections" at a reasonable rate,
because they're not liable for missing anything. If you privatise inspection
and do *certification*, as a private individual, you're going to need substantial
insurance coverage, highly trained inspectors, and a lot more time per house.
Paying for that is almost certain to exceed the savings for doing it yourself,
anyway. I don't believe there's any way to provide the kind of support
you're envisioning to homeowners without creating some kind of immunity to
liability.

-Goedjn

This would basically be a "cabin" back in the woods. No
lights, running water.

Just a wooden shelter only. Heck it might even be a
small wooden shed or Tuff Shed like you'd buy from Home
Depot. Big enough to sleep in and keep some gear

A place to "live: for a 4 week hunting trip

Does that info help?

Pitch a tent.
$400 or so of canvas and rope, cut the sticks on site.

There should be a simpler way for a homeowner to get a real inspection of
their
work, perhaps even some guidance. You sure don't get either from most
building
departments. You never will when they are doing an inspection every 12
minutes,
including travel time.

Depends on the town. In my town, the inspector is reasonable, fair, and has
offered suggestions to fix problems or keep them from happening. The
inspector truly can be your friend.

In our town, that's illegal. In this way, the inspectors are like vampires:
they can't cross the threshold without invitation.

Our local inspector, an extremely reasonable man we'll call "Pete," once
told me that he views permits as being more for safety reasons than for
anything else. According to the letter of the law here, just about anything
you do electrically or structurally has to have a permit. According to
"Pete" he'd rather I not pull a permit for installing a new outlet (which
The Law says I must) because it's not worth a $40 permit for a $5.00 job,
but when we upgraded from 60 amp service to 200 amp a permit was ABSOLUTELY
necessary. Why?

Because if the house burned down and it was caused by a problem with the new
wiring the insurance company would look for a permit and approval first
thing!

- Wm


--
William Morris, o.k.a. Solace the Shire Gravemaker, KCRF
o.k.a. Nicholas Thatch, No One In Particular
o.k.a. Tavish McTavish o' Loch Tavish, Privy Accountant to his Majesty King
James I
o.k.a. Quinn Harlech, Earl of Caerphilly
and always Semster, Seamlyne reProductions
Visit our website, http://www.seamlyne.com, for the most comfortable
historically inspired clothing you can buy!



wrote in message
...
On Wed, 15 Sep 2004 03:31:30 GMT, "George E. Cawthon"
wrote:


And I want to ensure that the improvement is noted because......? so
my taxes will go up. Do you suppose that it is really the tax
assessor that wants to ensure that the improvements are noted.


When we lived in NJ the code official in the town our town
'surrounded' (like in the hole of a doughnut) spent most of his time
hanging out in local hardware, lumber, and DIY business looking for
residents buying materials they would probably use to make home
improvements - the rest of the time he spent walking through the town
"eye balling" homes for any visible signs of improvements. We had
friends who moved into a colonial style house with an unfinished
attic, but it had dormers in the roof - they put curtains on the
windows and a table with a lamp on it in front of each window. Within
a week there was a knock on the door and the code official was there
asking about their failure to obtain a permit to finish the unfinished
attic!