Too close to comfort! Amex homes build homes against Code! 4 ft between homes (Starke: new home, buyers)

[escanlan]

Originally Posted by bobandsherry

That's a cop out. Inspectors have a responsibility,if they can't do their job well or aren't happy they should find a job that is better suited to them. Failing to do your job well should under no circumstance be acceptable. I've seen the speed that the inspectors work, very slowly. I've seen them sit and gab with the crew which is obviously not related to the job at hand based on the subject matter. They never start early and never work late, something that people in the private sector find they have to do routinely. As with most government jobs there is no accountability.

That's nowhere even close to a cop out, it is the total brutal truth of the matter! Let's use one city by me which is considered to be one of the fastest growing suburbs in the US. That city is McKinney, TX whose Building Inspection WEB site is here https://www.mckinneytexas.org/243/Building-Inspections . These are the facts obtained from McKinney's site.

• There are 14 Field Inspectors, the ones that actually go to the field to inspect. These Inspectors handle not only residential new construction but also commercial new construction as well as all required permit inspections for both residential and commercial existing structures.
• For residential structures McKinney requires approximately 12 different inspections from start to finish. If the builder fails the inspection, which many are failed for silly little reasons, then those inspections are performed again.
• According to the McKinney records they are averaging over 250 new residential build permits each month. This is just new build and not commercial new build or residential and commercial permits for other work like water heater replacements, re-roofs, etc., etc., etc., all which have permit inspections required.

McKinney is an unfortunate representation of Building Inspection Departments around the country! There is absolutely NO WAY a staff of 14 Field Inspectors can perform much more than very cursory if any inspections on permitted activities. As a result these building inspection departments rely heavily on the Builder's Third Party Inspectors for new build and the tradespeople's own word for permitted work on existing structures.


That is just for those cities that even have a Building Inspections function. Many small towns have permit requirements but little to no real oversight! My little town of Josephine, TX (latest population approximately 1600) has a major builder finishing the ground work for the first phase of a 4000+ new home development. Josephine has absolutely NO Building Inspection department and no plans that I am aware of to even start one. Instead they rely on a "Code Enforcement Inspector" from another city to perform their "Building Inspections". I'm sure you are aware of the significant difference in jobs between a "Code Enforcement Inspector" and a "Building Department Inspector".


Right here on this forum I read so many people that advise new home buyers not to hire their own Third Party Inspector because as they say "The local Building Department Inspectors will catch everything". I'm certainly here to tell you THAT IS NOT THE CASE!! During inspections I find so many defects that even the Builder's own Third Party Inspection Company and Builder's Own Engineering inspections fail to catch!!


The truth is building inspections by the cities are mostly nothing more than symbolic! Permits are intended to help ensure the safe building of structures through codes, requirements, and appropriate inspections to ensure they are followed. The real truth is if the local Building Inspections Departments actually thoroughly performed their jobs then many, many inspections would fail and consumers would be paying for a properly built home! However if that occurred then many builders would just pick up and go to a city that was not tight on building. That would leave those cities properly inspecting without the tax revenue they want!! It's all about the money in taxes and if you follow the money you'll see why these things like the OP's problem are missed!!

[escanlan]

Originally Posted by dave w

Simple solution, fire the inspectors involved, make the builder tear the house down, fine him and pull his builders license if he has one.

That is what maybe should be done but will never happen!! Follow the money and all becomes clear why we have so much defective building going on.

[mcharas]

Originally Posted by mrviking

And once again the county inspectors did not see a thing. Most inspectors I ever saw stayed in their cars while filling out the needed paper work. They got out of their air conditioned cars to sign off on the permit boards out front then quickly got back to the comfort of there cars.

I'm in Pasco, in a new house with one under construction next to me. Wouldn't ya know, they do just sit in their cars... I am home all day most days- so I can say, it sure seems true!

[mrviking]

Originally Posted by mcharas

I'm in Pasco, in a new house with one under construction next to me. Wouldn't ya know, they do just sit in their cars... I am home all day most days- so I can say, it sure seems true!

We called them drive by inspections. That's why the permit boards were out front close to the streets. They could just lean out the window and sign the board from the car. They would do roof inspections and not even carry a ladder!

[mrviking]

Could you imagine if a private business owner told the inspector the reason he couldn't be bothered with regulations and codes was because he was understaffed and there was just too much work that he couldn't do it all so just let him slide. For most people our homes are one of the biggest purchases and investments that we will make in our lifetimes. Good to know the government workers have our backs.

[mcharas]

Originally Posted by mrviking

We called them drive by inspections. That's why the permit boards were out front close to the streets. They could just lean out the window and sign the board from the car. They would do roof inspections and not even carry a ladder!

The list is loooooooong of the issues we had. Still waiting for many to be addressed... They have you by the tail, when you need to close or otherwise be homeless. Building in FL was a nightmare (have built other places as well)... Would never do it again here.

[bobandsherry]

Originally Posted by escanlan

That's nowhere even close to a cop out, it is the total brutal truth of the matter! Let's use one city by me which is considered to be one of the fastest growing suburbs in the US. That city is McKinney, TX whose Building Inspection WEB site is here https://www.mckinneytexas.org/243/Building-Inspections . These are the facts obtained from McKinney's site.

• There are 14 Field Inspectors, the ones that actually go to the field to inspect. These Inspectors handle not only residential new construction but also commercial new construction as well as all required permit inspections for both residential and commercial existing structures.
• For residential structures McKinney requires approximately 12 different inspections from start to finish. If the builder fails the inspection, which many are failed for silly little reasons, then those inspections are performed again.
• According to the McKinney records they are averaging over 250 new residential build permits each month. This is just new build and not commercial new build or residential and commercial permits for other work like water heater replacements, re-roofs, etc., etc., etc., all which have permit inspections required.

McKinney is an unfortunate representation of Building Inspection Departments around the country! There is absolutely NO WAY a staff of 14 Field Inspectors can perform much more than very cursory if any inspections on permitted activities. As a result these building inspection departments rely heavily on the Builder's Third Party Inspectors for new build and the tradespeople's own word for permitted work on existing structures.


That is just for those cities that even have a Building Inspections function. Many small towns have permit requirements but little to no real oversight! My little town of Josephine, TX (latest population approximately 1600) has a major builder finishing the ground work for the first phase of a 4000+ new home development. Josephine has absolutely NO Building Inspection department and no plans that I am aware of to even start one. Instead they rely on a "Code Enforcement Inspector" from another city to perform their "Building Inspections". I'm sure you are aware of the significant difference in jobs between a "Code Enforcement Inspector" and a "Building Department Inspector".


Right here on this forum I read so many people that advise new home buyers not to hire their own Third Party Inspector because as they say "The local Building Department Inspectors will catch everything". I'm certainly here to tell you THAT IS NOT THE CASE!! During inspections I find so many defects that even the Builder's own Third Party Inspection Company and Builder's Own Engineering inspections fail to catch!!


The truth is building inspections by the cities are mostly nothing more than symbolic! Permits are intended to help ensure the safe building of structures through codes, requirements, and appropriate inspections to ensure they are followed. The real truth is if the local Building Inspections Departments actually thoroughly performed their jobs then many, many inspections would fail and consumers would be paying for a properly built home! However if that occurred then many builders would just pick up and go to a city that was not tight on building. That would leave those cities properly inspecting without the tax revenue they want!! It's all about the money in taxes and if you follow the money you'll see why these things like the OP's problem are missed!!

TL;DR - It's clearly a cop out. ... if there is enough growth to have too much work, there is enough $$$ being collected in permit fees to hire more inspectors.

[bobandsherry]

Originally Posted by mrviking

Could you imagine if a private business owner told the inspector the reason he couldn't be bothered with regulations and codes was because he was understaffed and there was just too much work that he couldn't do it all so just let him slide. For most people our homes are one of the biggest purchases and investments that we will make in our lifetimes. Good to know the government workers have our backs.

Exactly - and inspectors I've seen are some of the laziest group of people I've seen. They make postal workers look spry! If their work ethics were in the private sector they'd be out of a job.

[bobandsherry]

Originally Posted by mcharas

The list is loooooooong of the issues we had. Still waiting for many to be addressed... They have you by the tail, when you need to close or otherwise be homeless. Building in FL was a nightmare (have built other places as well)... Would never do it again here.

I built here, also built elsewhere. No nightmare, house completed on time.

[bentlebee]

One of our homes had an inspection for faulty stucco that was replaced by builder and plywood had to be replaced and inspected by County prior to stucco reapplied.

Our fence gates were locked on the day the Inspector signed off so I called the County and ask how on earth this could have been inspected.

The answer was from the street behind us which meant that an entire two story home was blocking our house, including the back neighbors fence so another 3000 sqft home on a average lot size including a sidewalk is where the County Inspector was able to approve the nails in the plywood.

There was nothing we could do other than telling the inspector that all the stucco mess started due to shady inspections and shady/bad contractors.

Most of us know and have seen the nine English speaking people who smiled friendly and worked hard to build homes in 2005. They were dropped off by trucks that had the back of truck full of workers that came early in the morning and left in the evening and after the House market went down we never saw that again.

But bad work was delivered by many builders.