Cited for re roofing without permits (Los Angeles, San Gabriel: city hall, Home Depot, neighborhoods)

[jquest21]

Hi, I am a new member. As I was not aware of the law, my property has been cited for re roofing without an permit. I was redoing my roof last week and the city drove by and took pictures of my unfinished roof. A few days later, I received a courtesy warning notice with the following statement.

The city requests your cooperation in resolving the violated code section by correcting and/or repairing following listed items:

Code Section:
RMC 15.04.010 - A Bldg Title 26 Sec 106.1- Construction at residence
RMC 10.04.010 - A Section 106.1 - Investigation Permit: Investigation permit is required for all work performed at property.


Recommended Corrective Action:
"Please obtain all required permit from City Hall. Attention Building and Safety Department. Permit required for re roof."

"This notice serves as a courtesy warning notice. Failure to comply within the below indicated date may result in a administrative or notice to appear citation. Reoccurring violations may result in an administrative citation without a courtesy warning."


The next day, I went to the city hall to pay for the $400 permit and schedule an inspection for Friday. The clerk also told me the notice letter did not state anything about a penalty, but I should expect to pay a fine which is double. My question is, what are my expectancy of the inspection? Will they simply just inspect the work done on my roof and request to make corrective actions, or will they request to demolish the work and start over? What can I do to rectify this situation and hope for the best? This is taking place in Los Angeles/SGV. All of your inputs will highly be appreciated, Thanks!

[Lablitz]

every inspection is different. I've seen very strict inspectors and very easy going ones. Is this a single family home where you live in it? If so, they are easier and don't care as much. If it is a multifamily home, I think roof needs to be done by a licensed builder.
Depend how good of a job and meets the building code, most of the time, you do not need to destroy anything.

[gemstone1]

I wouldn't think a "courtesy warning" would come with a fine....as for the work already done, they could request it to be removed, or, if your methods are equal to or better than local code, they could allow you to continue....as long as the work is now permitted. It's entirely up to the county and the inspector.

[BRinSM]

I'm sure each city has its own roofing requirements. If the work is complete, I think your best best option at this point is to see what the inspector says. Hopefully your work meets the requirements and you can move on from all of this.

[Lablitz]

lets hope you didn't use cheap fake roof tiles that can easily catch a fire.

[(901)]

LA has Inspectors/Traffic Enforcement dropping out of trees it seems

[jquest21]

I heard they are using drones as well. Literally happened to my buddy 2 days ago.

[JohnG72]

One of your neighbors hates you.

It’s dependent on the city you are in. A whole lot of cities in San Gabriel valley.

[TacoSoup]

Originally Posted by JohnG72

One of your neighbors hates you.

This is most likely the case.

While it’s true they’ve used photography from planes, now probably satellite images, to compare outlines of properties to see changes, mostly for tax purposes, the odds of them driving through neighborhoods, following you from Home Depot, sending up drone, etc, is small due to manpower. I talked to a SD city inspector once while playing golf and I asked a lot of questions about situations similar to this. He said 9 out of 10 times it’s someone in the neighborhood. His advice was obviously always to get a permit, but if you choose not to, don’t start work too early, or go too late, and make sure you’re on good terms with your immediate neighbors. When I asked what’s the other 1 out of 10, he said people inquiring about permits and giving their address, but not following through.

Take it for what it’s worth.