Is Columbia county that different? (home, water heater, contractors)

[Worren]

This week I had water heaters replaced in two of my properties. One in Richmond county and one in Columbia county. The licensed plumbing contractor came right out and did the job in two hours and charged a little over six hundred bucks for the Richmond county job. They couldn't come that day in Columbia county because they had to get a permit, charging me for their time plus the permit fee. This was the same company and the exact same employee. He did the job then I was charged for a Columbia county employee to come inspect the licensed plumber's work. They installed exactly the same water heaters in both locations. Why is Columbia county causing maintenance charges to be so high when the same work is done in neighboring counties without permit/inspection fees? Is the air or something different in Columbia county causing a rash of water heater problems? Why don't they trust licensed contractors to do the job they were licensed to perform without burdening property owners with dubious fees? Their permit/inspection fees caused the Columbia county job to cost over three hundred bucks more than the same thing in Richmond county. For a water heater.

[Eastclevelandguy]

This situation sounds odd to me I have had plenty of work done on my home in Columbia County and they don't have the time or show any interest in having someone come out and inspect each and every job. Since when do you need a permit to replace a hot water? All of the items that require a permit are listed on the site and I don't see any category to which this work would fall under. The only difference I am aware of is that contractors have to have CC Trade Permits which may require them to past that cost onto you. Had my entire heating and cooling system replaced by a reputable company and cc didn't come inspect their work.

[Chuck_G]

When I had to have my water heater replaced it was still covered under my AHS home warranty, so the service charge should have been only $65. But the plumber sent by AHS also charged me $105 for a permit. This was in Columbia County also.