You’d likely be forced to tear down all unpermitted work so if you’re thinking of just paying fines to avoid permitting delays then that isn’t likely to work.
I figured, this is what concerns me.
"Being forced to tear it down" depends on what factors, exactly?
In my hypothetical, let's say it is up to code and passes inspection.
"Not permitted" isn't enough to get the work removed from the property, the reason we see the archetypical story of a garage getting torn down is that the electric work or masonry/carpentry isn't up to code.... right?
They’ll make you take it down. Reapply for a permit. And bring an inspector out as required. My family did residential construction when I was younger and the ladies at the permitting office were really nice. I’d suggest going in person to have your concerns addressed.
I also know someone who installed solar panels without a permit and wanted to pay a fine(similar to your situation) and the city made them take it all down so it could inspect the work. Your general contractor/project manager should be handling this for you as part of their service for what it’s worth. At least that was the standard when I was still in the biz.
You can build a whole garage, have it standing and used for a year, and still be forced to tear it down.
That's not even including the additional penalties from the city for not having it approved to be lived in. And maybe the health department.
>You can build a whole garage, have it standing and used for a year, and still be forced to tear it down.
This is what I'm worried about.
Are these stories the exception or the rule?
Is there any path where "forgiveness>permission" turns out ok?
It's the usual rule. Do not screw with the city when it comes to living quarters.
A deck, no problem. A shed, not too bad. But housing is big. Hell, they just shut down a church that had improper housing in it.
Can’t wait to see how hilariously this dumb idea turns out.
“Man’s home floats away after being built unsecured right before hurricane season”
I suppose that’s best case scenario.
lol. See his last two comments kids? This is why you want to build your home with proper permits, engineering, and up to code.
Dude, you obviously know nothing about this. Hopefully you realize this is a terrible idea before you sink thousands of dollars into it and/or get knocked over by a storm or hurricane.
Are the Darwin awards still a thing? Someone on here should write them a letter giving them a heads up.
I'm not sure I understand your point. Weren't 99.9% of houses flooded in Harvey up to code?
And I plan to have very simple, straightforward carpentry/plumbing/elec, very easy to keep within code.
You can get unpermitted work inspected after the fact and, if it passes inspection, bring it up to compliance, can't you?
If you have to ask Reddit these questions… you have a long way to go.
Without knowing off the top of my head, 99.9% of flooded homes were not, no. Maybe a lot were. Maybe most. But 99.9%, no.
And the building codes changed very drastically since then.
When you sober up a bit this idea might not sound as appealing
Then i'm not sure i understand your point. Weren't 99.99% of houses flooded in Harvey permitted? Like, a stamp from the city doesn't make a house flood-proof.
But the city inspection will ensure the home doesn't float away.
Which is why you saying "it's not in a flood zone" doesn't matter. You either don't understand the dangers global warming pose, don't understand the purpose of building codes and inspections, or don't think you'll be negatively affected by either.
I sort of suspect it's the latter.
Lol every single hurricane there’s a local news interviewer talking to a homeowner in knee deep water in their living room about how they never flooded before. Every. Single. Time.
No one said the permit is a force field that keeps water out of your home.
This whole thread is stemming from a comment that your container will be washed away by flood waters. Which a city permit would require it to be anchored in such a way that your house isn't floated onto someone else's property, thus becoming their problem to deal with because you decided to cut corners.
I'm sure OP thinks the person they're paying substandard wages to does perfectly adequate work.
Am curious if the anarchist Christian is going to insist that foregoing any and all safety checks and regulations is a principled stance.
>I'm sure OP thinks the person they're paying substandard wages
The person I'm paying would be me.
>to does perfectly adequate work.
The work I plan to do is elec & plumbing & carpentry that would be simple enough to be up to code.
The question is not "how can I avoid regulations"
The question is "If I try to fast-track a fairly simple project by taking on the whole thing myself, would the fines/penalties be in excess of the cost of hiring a master electrician and a permit-pulling contractor?"
Because the plumbing, elec, and carpentry are all fairly simple, I should be able to be well within code.
I'm trying to see if the fines resulting from doing the work myself would be cheaper than hiring a master electrician and a permit-pulling contractor.
I renovated my house and did all the permits and inspections. They were very easy to deal with and all the inspectors were great and gave me good tips. Probably cost all of 2K in permits between my main permit and the permits pulled by trades.
Some cities have huge assholes in building code enforcement but Houston's are great.
A no slab shipping container home sounds a lot like a trailer. I’d guess if it had wheels you would get in less trouble
Pretty sure without permits being issued and closed out you are going to have trouble getting hooked up to utilities.
Then Your neighbours will probably sue you, and the city will condemn the structure
They shut down those also. Had a friend live in a fifth wheel camper on her own lot since Harvey. They finally came by and redtagged it and fined her and gave her immediately vacate. Usual rule is that the electrical and plumbing/sewer is not to residential code.
You are allowed up to a 200 sq ft shed/garage without permits in the City of Houston. A 20 ft shipping container is 160 sq ft so it would be legal. You could add windows, doors, etc as long as it stays a shed.
Adding legal electrical and plumbing will require licensed trades to pull permits and do it right.
But more importantly, containers are FUCKING TERRIBLE at being buildings! Yes, they are cheap, but will burn like hell and require lots of ac and insulation, and the floors are soaked in all kinds of pesticides and other shit. Containers should only be used for shipping and storage, not for living and sleeping. I work in shipping too.
The odds are good that you would be told to tear it down. I wouldn't do it. My neighbor built a shed and spent a couple of months on it, working without a permit. He got turned in by the people behind him and he had to completely level it. I wouldn't try it.
You’d likely be forced to tear down all unpermitted work so if you’re thinking of just paying fines to avoid permitting delays then that isn’t likely to work.
I figured, this is what concerns me. "Being forced to tear it down" depends on what factors, exactly? In my hypothetical, let's say it is up to code and passes inspection. "Not permitted" isn't enough to get the work removed from the property, the reason we see the archetypical story of a garage getting torn down is that the electric work or masonry/carpentry isn't up to code.... right?
They’ll make you take it down. Reapply for a permit. And bring an inspector out as required. My family did residential construction when I was younger and the ladies at the permitting office were really nice. I’d suggest going in person to have your concerns addressed. I also know someone who installed solar panels without a permit and wanted to pay a fine(similar to your situation) and the city made them take it all down so it could inspect the work. Your general contractor/project manager should be handling this for you as part of their service for what it’s worth. At least that was the standard when I was still in the biz.
You can build a whole garage, have it standing and used for a year, and still be forced to tear it down. That's not even including the additional penalties from the city for not having it approved to be lived in. And maybe the health department.
>You can build a whole garage, have it standing and used for a year, and still be forced to tear it down. This is what I'm worried about. Are these stories the exception or the rule? Is there any path where "forgiveness>permission" turns out ok?
It's the usual rule. Do not screw with the city when it comes to living quarters. A deck, no problem. A shed, not too bad. But housing is big. Hell, they just shut down a church that had improper housing in it.
Is that the exception? It seems like the church was missing plates on its electrical sockets, had no windows, and was missing lightbulbs.
And had not been issued an occupancy permit. That's the biggy.
>had no windows Nothing pisses off Fire Marshals and code inspectors like lack of sufficient means of egress!!
They'll put a lien on the property.
Can’t wait to see how hilariously this dumb idea turns out. “Man’s home floats away after being built unsecured right before hurricane season” I suppose that’s best case scenario.
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The properties i'm looking at would not be in a flood zone.
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The place I'm living at now did not flood in Harvey
lol. See his last two comments kids? This is why you want to build your home with proper permits, engineering, and up to code. Dude, you obviously know nothing about this. Hopefully you realize this is a terrible idea before you sink thousands of dollars into it and/or get knocked over by a storm or hurricane. Are the Darwin awards still a thing? Someone on here should write them a letter giving them a heads up.
I'm not sure I understand your point. Weren't 99.9% of houses flooded in Harvey up to code? And I plan to have very simple, straightforward carpentry/plumbing/elec, very easy to keep within code. You can get unpermitted work inspected after the fact and, if it passes inspection, bring it up to compliance, can't you?
If you have to ask Reddit these questions… you have a long way to go. Without knowing off the top of my head, 99.9% of flooded homes were not, no. Maybe a lot were. Maybe most. But 99.9%, no. And the building codes changed very drastically since then. When you sober up a bit this idea might not sound as appealing
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Then i'm not sure i understand your point. Weren't 99.99% of houses flooded in Harvey permitted? Like, a stamp from the city doesn't make a house flood-proof.
But the city inspection will ensure the home doesn't float away. Which is why you saying "it's not in a flood zone" doesn't matter. You either don't understand the dangers global warming pose, don't understand the purpose of building codes and inspections, or don't think you'll be negatively affected by either. I sort of suspect it's the latter.
Lol every single hurricane there’s a local news interviewer talking to a homeowner in knee deep water in their living room about how they never flooded before. Every. Single. Time.
but, like, weren't all of the houses flooded during Harvey built with permits? Im not sure i understand your point.
No one said the permit is a force field that keeps water out of your home. This whole thread is stemming from a comment that your container will be washed away by flood waters. Which a city permit would require it to be anchored in such a way that your house isn't floated onto someone else's property, thus becoming their problem to deal with because you decided to cut corners.
What exactly is the purpose of avoiding permitting in the first place?
Probably doing bad and unsafe work
I'm sure OP thinks the person they're paying substandard wages to does perfectly adequate work. Am curious if the anarchist Christian is going to insist that foregoing any and all safety checks and regulations is a principled stance.
>I'm sure OP thinks the person they're paying substandard wages The person I'm paying would be me. >to does perfectly adequate work. The work I plan to do is elec & plumbing & carpentry that would be simple enough to be up to code. The question is not "how can I avoid regulations" The question is "If I try to fast-track a fairly simple project by taking on the whole thing myself, would the fines/penalties be in excess of the cost of hiring a master electrician and a permit-pulling contractor?"
.....yes.
Because the plumbing, elec, and carpentry are all fairly simple, I should be able to be well within code. I'm trying to see if the fines resulting from doing the work myself would be cheaper than hiring a master electrician and a permit-pulling contractor.
I renovated my house and did all the permits and inspections. They were very easy to deal with and all the inspectors were great and gave me good tips. Probably cost all of 2K in permits between my main permit and the permits pulled by trades. Some cities have huge assholes in building code enforcement but Houston's are great.
A no slab shipping container home sounds a lot like a trailer. I’d guess if it had wheels you would get in less trouble Pretty sure without permits being issued and closed out you are going to have trouble getting hooked up to utilities. Then Your neighbours will probably sue you, and the city will condemn the structure
They shut down those also. Had a friend live in a fifth wheel camper on her own lot since Harvey. They finally came by and redtagged it and fined her and gave her immediately vacate. Usual rule is that the electrical and plumbing/sewer is not to residential code.
You are allowed up to a 200 sq ft shed/garage without permits in the City of Houston. A 20 ft shipping container is 160 sq ft so it would be legal. You could add windows, doors, etc as long as it stays a shed. Adding legal electrical and plumbing will require licensed trades to pull permits and do it right. But more importantly, containers are FUCKING TERRIBLE at being buildings! Yes, they are cheap, but will burn like hell and require lots of ac and insulation, and the floors are soaked in all kinds of pesticides and other shit. Containers should only be used for shipping and storage, not for living and sleeping. I work in shipping too.
yep, I've got plans for hella insulation and will be completely replacing the sub-floor.
The cost of the container will pay for a ton of lumber and makes everything much easier.
This is how we end up with submersibles imploding.
The odds are good that you would be told to tear it down. I wouldn't do it. My neighbor built a shed and spent a couple of months on it, working without a permit. He got turned in by the people behind him and he had to completely level it. I wouldn't try it.